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New York State Education Department 

Science Division, June 1,5, 1.908 

Hon. A. S. Draper LL. D. 

Commissioner of Education 

My dear sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith, for pubU- 
cation as a bulletin of this division, a manuscript entitled 
Myths and Legends of the New York State Iroquois. 

The materials for this work were gathered by the late Mrs Harriet 
Maxwell Converse during many years of intimate association with 
the Six Nations of New York, and some years after her death 
came into the possession of this Department Avith the promise of 
publication. 

The manuscript has been edited by Arthur C. Parker, 
Archeologist, who has also prepared the introduction, a biograph- 
ical sketch of the author, as well as some annotations and addi- 
tions to the general body of the work. 

Very respectfully 

John M. Clarke 

Director 
State of New York 
Education Department 
commissioner's room 

Approved for publication this 19th day of June 1908 




Commissioner of Education 




^. 



"^^^^^^^ C^d^^L^i^//. ^O^^^"^^^ 



•0 iO «J 



Education Department Bulletin 

Published fortnightly by the University of the State of New York 

Entered as second-class matter June 24, 1908, at the Post Office at Albany, N. Y., under 
the act of July 16, 1894 



No. 437 ALBANY, N. Y. December 15, 1908 



New York State Museum 

John M Clarkk, Director 
Museum bulletin 125 

MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF THE NEW YORK STATE 

IROQUOIS 

BY 

HARRIET MAXWELL CONVERSE 

(Ya-ie-wa-noh) 

EDITED AND ANNOTATED BY 

ARTHUR CASWELL PARKER 
(,Ga-wa-so-wa-neh) 

PREFATORY NOTE 

One may not hope to read a primitive culture from the record 
of its workmanship alone, although this is often the only avenue 
remaining by which a lost culture may be approached. The 
mentality of a primitive people living close to nature mirrors the 
supreme law of the universe in its simplest and most elemental 
expressions; it clothes with individuaHty the manifestation of this 
law, gives words to its unconscious forces and thoughts to its 
living agents; it reads, suffused in a wealth of imagery, the 
spiritual law in the natural world or embellishes some historical 
event. Such simple and unembarrassed expressions, transmitted 
not by records of hand but from mouth to mouth through the 
generations, are priceless to the student who finds in a progressed 



O M:\\ VoKK static MLSI£LM 

and complicateil civilization the obscuration of natural law bv 
the artificial conditions erected on the rebellious logic of human 
society. 

The labors ut Mrs Harriet Maxwell Converse in recording the 
legends and nature myths of the New York Iroquois are, for these 
and other reasons, most worthy of conservation. She was de- 
voted in her love for her adopted people; she shared their spirit 
and could record their folk tales with perfect sympathv. 

Mr Parker, who has edited the manuscripts of Mrs Converse 
and prepared the introductory portion of this work, has been 
prompted not only by fidelity to the memory of a friend but by 
the piety and inspiration of inheritance. 

John M. Clarke 
(Ho-san-na-ga-da) 



INTRODUCTION 

No people can long exist as an ethnic group without consciously, 
or otherwise, creating a philosophy of things which becomes the 
common belief of that body of people — becomes their science 
and religion. The more permanent the people, the more enduring 
and greater the influence of their system of behef. Viewed in the 
light of exact science, as we know it, these primitive philosophies 
become mythologies. A myth may appear to us puerile and with- 
out any basis in logic, it may appear as a worthless fancy or a child's 
tale and yet a deeper study of the myth reveals within it the 
beginning of physics, philosophy and theology. Unfamiliar 
with the real cause of the phenomenon of mind or matter, the 
primitive mind, being a reasoning mind seeking to satisfy its 
curiosity and allay its fears, hypothecates the causes of visible 
effects in the form of myths. The primitive mind, believing all 
things the result of some intelligence, personifies and deifies the 
causes of eflfects, and thus has arisen the multiplicity of gods and 
guardian spirits. 

Once crystallized and difl^used, myths become working factors 
of human action. They become the science and religion of the 
ethnic group which entertains them. They become the basis of 
reasoning. A treatise on a cause, they become a cause. They 
become so ingrained in the minds of their believers that, when in 
other generations they are rivaled by more rational S3^stems, 
they are not easih^ supplanted, for they bear the approval of the 
religious leaders and the wise men of the generations past. To 
the great body of people the old myth was a part of common religion ; 
the new myth w^hich attempted to explain the thunder or the 
wind's fury Avas the science of the day and few would have aught 
to do with it, and here we have a glimpse of the conflict of religion 
and science. Religion was the conservative element and clung to 
the sacred beliefs of its fathers; science (so called), which brought 
the innovation, denied all precedents and struck out afresh to 
establish new ideas. Years passed by and the religions of the day 
accepted the new beliefs vmtil the throes of their birth became 
forgotten in the haze of many years. Then again the critical minds 
of the time, comparing the experiences of the past and analyzing 
as best they could, sought to find new explanations that appealed 
more to their ideas of logic. Then old myths were scoffed at, a 
new system established, and again the conflict. Nor is it strange 
that men should be loath to deny that to which the}^ have become 

7 



8 NEW VliRK STATK MISELM 

accustomed; there is always a feeling of uncertainty about new 
systems and they arc cautiously experimented with at first. 

In reviewing the myths of the ancients or of modern primitive 
men we may sometimes wonder how any large body of rational 
men could hold as sacred truths such fictions as we may regard 
unworthy of serious consideration. If such is the case it is 
because we have forgotten that the human mind has not 
always been of the same texture as it is toda\' in the m<nk-rn man 
of civilization. The minds of men. we should recall, through 
the varying grades of culture, from lower savagery to civilization, 
are characterized by wide differences. They are not uniformly sus- 
ceptible to the same stimuli, for each culture grade gives to the mind 
of the man which it characterizes a dilTerent viewi)oint, ditTerent 
capacities and difterent associations. It is always well to keej) in 
mind the fact that our present enlightened beliefs, our sciences 
and our civilization are the product of a long period of evolution 
under favorable circumstances, and that they are not things that 
men were always able to grasp. It is well, also, to remember that 
our ancestors were once barbarians and rude savages, scarcely 
more intelligent than the other animals of the forest. All this 
might be hard to believe were it not that jirimitive savages still 
are to be found, and that all the various culture stages can be 
illustrated by groups of living peoples. There is little doubt that 
the man of five centuries hence will find plenty to laugh at, if he 
feels so disposed, when he reads the annals of our times and gets 
an insight of our customs and beliefs, some of which he may term 
myths. While he may appreciate our achievements he will cer- 
tainly deny our claim to enlightenment and choose to bestow it 
ujjon himself. There can be no true enlightenment, and the age of 
fable will not cease to be, until the laws which govern all phenomena 
are known to men. Until then men must theorize. Myths were 
originally theo ries adtlucc d from t he bes t-Uifmr nation^ at. 
Survivmg m more enliglvtericd agesthey were still held even though 
inconsistent with the known objective exi)erience of the time. 
Even so they were regarded as sacred truths. A-inyth must be 
regarded, therefore, as a primitive theory, as a rude attempt to 
reach truth, as a tentative hypothesis upon which to fasten one's 
belief, for one must l)clicvc somethiiig- 

Legends and traditions. No people <>! aii\ mulleiiual life can 
exist in soiial bodii-s without building up out of their experiences 
and especially out of their imaginations a vast body of oral fiction. 
Among peoples, widely separated in point of time and space, the 



IROQUOIS Mvius Axn i.i:GKxns 9 

same general m3'ths and legends are found. This by no means 
necessarily implies contact. Rather does it illustrate the fact that 
illimitable as imagination seems to be in its power to combine and 
create, in reality it is limited by certain suggesting factors which 
may be common to all people of a given cultural stage and to all 
times. We have dwelt upon this feature at some length in a note 
on the Celestial Bear myth. It is not to be supposed, however, 
that some myths have not been derived by contact directly or 
indirectly in times more or less historic. On the other hand it 
seems quite feasible to believe that certain myths have been 
transmitted from one stock to another, the elements to be pre- 
served and the details to be recast in local molds. Some myths 
are plainly derived from external sources and are easily traced 
to their originating sources. Others are more difficult to trace. 
Certain individuals among tribes in the lower culture stages be- 
come the story-tellers of their people and are the tribal libraries 
of this oral fiction. Legends^cliffer from .myths in. that they -are 
wond er st ories told for the amusement of those who hear them 
and are recognized as ingenious creations of imagination. There 
is, however, a class of legends that relate to localities and which 
explain some local phenomenon, but these are traditions rather 
than legends. Traditions differ from legends in that they pretend 
to be and often are the relations of actual occurrences. They are 
the histories of the peasantry and the tribes that have no system 
of writing. 

Iroquois folklore 

The Xorth American Indians possessed a vast oral literature of 
mythology, legendary lore and tradition. The field of American 
folklore has scarcely been touched by anthropologists, and even 
tribes that have been known the longest have received compara- 
tively little attention. True, much has been recorded, but this 
much is but a small portion of the total. That this should be 
the case is not due to the lack of energy on the part of students 
but to the inaccessibility of the greater part of the material. 

Much is known of the material culture of the Iroquois and much 
also of their governmental system and their social laws. That 
not all is known is conceded, but enough to place them conspicu- 
ously before historians and ethnographers as the Indians of Indians, 
as the most splendid of barbaric men. It will bs found of interest, 
therefore, to bring before students for correlation the small portion 
of their literature contained in this volume. 



lO NIvW YORK STATE Ml'SKUM 

The niytholopfv of the Iroquois differs in form from that of manv 
other of the American races. Iroquois tales were of strenj^th. of 
great deeds, of nature and the forces of nature. " standing,' out in 
strikinjj contrast to tlie flimsy ct»nceptions of the Alj^onquins." as 
someone has remarked. They are the classics of all the unwritten 
literature of the American aborij(ines. 

The Iroquois were a people who loved to weave languaj^'c in line 
metaphor and delicate allusion and possessed a lan^^'uage singularly 
adapted for this purpcjse. They were unconscious poets, and 
some o( their talcs seem to have been chanted in blank verse, the 
rhythm and swing of the meter in their estimation giving an added 
ilclight to the story. When the legends arc told to white men the 
delicate word-weave is seldom revealed, and never if the legend is 
told in English. The translation robs it of much of its intended 
chann and grace, for the Indian seems to think that the pale in- 
vader may laugh at his metaphors or deride him for revealing 
that such Hne emotions exist within a stoic's breast. Thus it is 
that so many legends appear puerile and without pertinency which 
in the vernacular are strong and full of meaning. 

Story-telling customs of the Iroquois. Each settlement had its 
orticial story-teller whose ])rcdcccssor had carefully taught him all 
the legends and traditions of the mysterious ])ast ami his listeners 
who gathered about him never tired of the narrative though re- 
peated again and again. 

According to ancient traditions no fal)le, myth tale, or story of 
ancient adventures might be told during the months of summer. 
Such practice was forbidden by "the little people" (jo-ga-oh), 
the wood fairies. Should their law be violated some jo-ga-oh flying 
about in the form of a beetle or bird might discover the offender 
and report him to the jo-gii-oh chief. Upon this a sign would 
warn the f<jrgetful Indian. Failing to ob.serve the omen, some 
evil would licfall the culprit. Bees might sting his lips or his 
tongue would swell and hll his mouth. Snakes might crawl in 
his bed and choke him while he slept, and so on, until ho was pun- 
ished and forced to desist from forbidden talk. 

The wood sprites enacted and enforced this law tor iwo puiixi.si-s: 
first, that no animal sh(juld beccjme offended by man's boasting 
of his triumph over beasts, or at the same time learn too much of 
human cunning and fly forever the haunts of mankind ; ami second, 
that no animal, wIkj listening to tales of wonder, adventure or 
humor, should become so interested as to f(jrget its place in nature, 
and pondering over the mysteries of man's wonls, wander dazed 



IKOOUOIS MYTITS AND LEGENDS II 

and aimless through the forest. To Hstcn to stories in the summer 
time made trees and plants as well as animals and men lazy, and 
therefore scanty crops, lean game and shiftless people resulted. 
To listen to stories made the birds forget to fly to the south lands 
when winter came, it made the animals neglect to store up winter 
provisions and grow their warm winter coats of fur. All the 
world stops work when a good story is told and afterwards in mar- 
veling forgets its wonted duty. Thus On-gweh'-o-weh-ka', the 
Iroquois, loyal to old-time custom, reserves his tales of adven- 
tures, myth and mystery for winter when the \'ear's work is over 
and all nature slumbers. 

When the story-teller finds an audience about him or wishes to 
call one, he announces his intention to recite a folk tale (ga-ga', or 
in the ]jlural, ga-ga'-sho-6) by exclaiming " Ha-nio'!" and the 
eager reply is " Hch," which is an ardent request that his 
" Hanio" take immediate effect, and the relation of a ga-ga' ensues. 

At intervals during the relation of a story the auditors must 
exclaim " Hah!" This was the sign that they were listening. 
If there was no frequent response of " Hah," the storj^-teller 
would stop and inquire what fault was found with him or his story. 

It v,'as not only considered a breach of courtesy for a listener to 
fall asleep, but also a positive omen of evil to the guilty party. 
If any one for any reason wished to sleep or to leave the room, he 
must request the narrator to tie the story, " Si-ga'-hah." Failing 
to say this, and afterwards desiring to hear the remainder of the 
tale, the narrator would refuse him, for if he related it at all it 
must be from the beginning through, unless tied. Thus si-gd'-hah 
was the niagic word by which a legend might be told as a serial. 

Methods of recording folklore 

There are several ways in which folk talcs may be recorded, as 
indeed there are several purposes for which they are written. To 
satisfy strictly scientific requirements, the method employed by 
the Smithsonian Institution and other progressive ethnological 
institutions, is undoubtedly the best. The native text is recorded 
with an exact translation interlined, word beneath word. This 
method is most satisfactory to the student of languages but from 
the standpoint of literature it falls short. The resulting English 
is extremely awkward as it must necessarily be in an attempt to 
parallel two radically different systems of grammar and word 
compounding. No idea of the native beauty is preserved in such 



I^ NKW YORK STATF. Ml'SF.lM 

translations, which are often inelegant and difficult t(j read and 
understand. To remedy these defects the whole translation must 
be rewritten in accord with current methods of exi)ression. 

Another method of preserving a myth is to record it exactly as 
told, in the broken Knj^dish t)f its narrator. The mcjst poetic con- 
ception is thus sometimes reduced to grotesque caricature, and 
the \alue of the record lies not so much in its subject-matter as 
it does in the estimation which is f(jrmed of the narrator's abilitv 
of expressing in our tt)ngue the thoughts of his own. The charm- 
ing Uncle Remus stories are of this character but the result is onlv 
a study in l)rogue or dialect, and fails to convey tc our minds the 
ideas which exist in the mind of the native myth teller. From 
the standpoint ai literature and psychology it is the impression, 
its form, its spirit that we wish to apprehend. The same medium 
may produce ditTerent results if employed on different substances. 
The mind of the modern progressive man of today is of a different 
texture frotn that of the savage or the peasant, and the same idea 
produces different emotions and associations in these classes of 
intellect. 

Many have employed the method of entirely recasting primitive 
ideas in their own thought molds, eliminating all the original 
idioms and picturesque eccentricities of expression and presenting 
the folk tale in all the verbiage of contemporary literature. The 
plot and motive of the original relation is warped and modified 
to fit modern requirements, the original elements arc lost and the 
story becomes simply a modern one built upon the shattered skele- 
ton of the old. The use of this method has produced a mass of 
florid, ocherous, recast and garbled folklore, which ne\ertheless, 
is presented as genuine. 

There is yet another method which embraces some of the worthy 
features previously suggested. It may have its drawbacks to be 
criticized but it is full of merit notwithstanding. By this method 
the transcriber attempts to assimilate the ideas of the myth tale 
as he hears it, seeks to become imbued with the spirit of its char- 
acters, and. shutting out from his mind all thought of his own 
culture, and momentarily transforming himself into the culture 
of the myth teller, records his impressions as he recalls the story. 
His object is to produce the same emotions in the mind of civilized 
man which is produced in the i)rimitive mind, which entertains the 
myth without destroying the native style or warj)ing the facts of 
the narrative. If in the vernacular the ideas convey tragic. 
mysterious, or horrifying impressions, and the style is vigorous. 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 1 3 

metaphorical or poetic, the transcriber employ's every consistent 
art to reproduce the same elements in his own language. There 
is virtue in this method if honestly followed but it can only be used 
by one familiar with all the incidents of the culture which produced 
the tale, by one who is familiar with the language, life and psychol- 
ogy of the m3^th maker. A myth tale recorded in this way is neither 
mechanical, dialect or affected in style, but on the other hand, 
the same living, sentient stor^^ though dressed in the garments 
of another speech. 

It is substantialh^ this method which has been employed by 
Harriet Maxwell Converse in recording the myths and legends 
contained in this volume, and for this reason her w^ork is eminently 
worthy of the consideration of students. Her great love for the 
Indians, her sympathetic nature, her scientific training and her 
psychic temperament enabled her to get at the heart of the stories 
her Indian friends told her. With her poetic mind schooled in all 
the arts of literature she has interpreted the ideas and impressions 
in a matchless style w^hich enables the reader to feel all that the 
red man felt when he listened to the ancient stories of his fore- 
fathers. 

The editor has endeavored to arrange the various myths and 
legends systematically and add such notes as will illuminate some 
of the obscure passages and to suggest by other notes the wealth 
of material which is opened up by the study of Iroquois folklore 
and American folklore in general. 

As a loving friend and grateful student of Mrs Converse, the 
editor has aimed in putting forth this work to rear from her own 
material a worthy monument, both to the memory of rhe gifted 
writer and to the people whom she loved. 

Arthur C. Parker 



V< iSoJJi^J [k: 



37. 



BIOOkAIMIV ()l- llAKklKl' MAXWKLL t'OXVKRSl-: 

To the latr Mrs Harriet Maxwell Converse, the State of New 
York owes a debt of lasting vjratitude. The reason is apparent 
to even the swperficial visitt)r to the Indian collections in the State 
Museum where in striking prominence are to be seen hundreds of 
rare and priceless relics of the al)ori}j[ines of New York, her j^'ift to 
the State in memory of her father. Hon. Thomas Maxwell of Klmira. 
Her unselfish work in preserving the record and relics of the first 
claimants of Xew York State has resulted in preservinj^ much of 
immense value for students of culture, history and ethnoj^rajihy. 
Her fjreat interest in the Indians and her wonderful influence with 
them made it possible for her to mingle with them as a trusted and 
beloved friend. Indeed so greatly did the Indians esteem her that 
they bestowed upon her every pctssible honor within the gift of the 
clan and the council, hailed her as a sister and a mother, called her 
Ya-ie-wa-noh, She Who Watches Over Us, adopted her as a 
member of the nation and gave her a seat in their councils. There 
is a very great difference between merely receiving a com])li- 
mentary name and an actual national adoption. 

The life story of so remarkable a woman can not fail of perti- 
nent interest from any viewpoint. Mrs Converse was not a 
woman who was given to saying much concerning herself and 
although the \\riter was associated with her more or less from 
his childh(Kjd. the notes which he has relating to her earlier 
history are few and fragmentary, but from them and from the 
records which he has at hand, a brief account of licr life's history 
has been prepared. 

To get at the ancestral elements which contributed to the con- 
struction of her mind and personality, we must go to the Highlands 
f)f Scotland where in the romantic days of history, " the Maxwells 
maintained the splendor of their name in the baronial towers of 
Caerlaverock." A s])lendid name was that of Maxwi'll, and proudly 
borne bv braxc Highlandi-rs from days of old. 

Alexander Maxwell, liack in the early years of the iSth cen- 
tury, in the Scottish \alley of the Xithe was born Alexander Max- 
well. He married Jane Mcliratney, she too a Highlander. an<l of 
the clan Mcl'herson. The charm of America had ivacluvl the 
ears of Alexander Maxwell and in juiu" 1770 he and his 
g«)od wife set sail, from the ])ort >>i Partick. for the new 
world where adventure and fortune, good or ill, awaited wrvy 
daring pioneer. liut summer seas an' not always smooth an<l jum- 

14 



Plate I 




Red Jacket 
Taken from a steel engraving of tlic j>ainling i;y K. W . W'icr 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND I.KGKNDS I5 

breezes sometimes become gales that lash the waves to fury and 
bring disaster to unwary barks. This the emigrating couple 
discovered almost at the outset of their voyage. A A'iolent storm 
came up as they coursed down the North channel which wrecked the 
ship and tossed it upon the shores of County Down in Ireland. 
The unfortunate couple found refuge in a fisherman's cottage on 
the shore where, about a month later, June 15, 1770, a son was 
born, whom they named Guy. The Maxwells and their baby 
son continued in Ireland for months when, in 1772, they em- 
barked again for America. Upon their arrival they settled in 
Carlisle, Pa., but soon removed to Virginia, where they made 
their home in Martinsburg, Berkley co., and where today are 
many descendants of the Scots, and prominent among them, 
descendants of the Maxwells. 

When young Guy Maxwell was 18 years of age he took up his 
residence at Tioga Point where he entered into the firm of Colonel 
Hollenback. His extraordinary acumen is attested by the fact 
that Governor Mifflin in 1788 appointed him justice of the peace, 
then an office of greater importance than at the present day. 
He was less than 19 years of age when he took the appointment 
which he held for many years. Guy Maxwell occupied many 
positions of trust during his early years and contemporary history 
tells us that he was a shrewd business man. He removed from 
Milton, Pa., in 1794 to the present site of Elmira where he pur- 
chased a town lot. He dealt extensively with the Indians especially 
the Senecas, by whom he was greatly esteemed because of his 
uniform courtesy and strict honesty. In those days it was a com- 
mon thing to treat Indians with respect but the quality of honesty 
was oftentimes a rare one when dealing with them. The Senecas 
appreciated his integrity and sought to express their regard by 
bestowing upon him the name, Ta-se-wa-ya-ee, meaning Honest 
Trader. His love for the red men of the forest was shared by his son, 
Thomas, who was born in Athens, Pa. 

Thomas Maxwell. Thomas Maxwell during his early boyhood 
became a great friend and favorite of the Indians who made Elmira 
a trading post and often spent days in the forest with them. His 
skill with the bow and his speed on the trail excited their admira- 
tion. Finally after some deed of heroism and endurance, they 
acclaimed that he was a red man at heart, though his skin was 
white, adopted him in the Wolf Clan, told him to call Red Jacket 
his father and that his name was hencefortli, He-je-no and meant 
Brave Boy. For years Thomas Maxwell was count}^ clerk of 



l6 Ni:\V YORK STATK MISKIM 

Tioga and ChemuiiJL,' counties and Ik- also served in Albanv ;i 
assemblyman for his district and aftenvard as congressman in 
Washington. He was a man (tf exce]>tional literary abilit\ and 
contributed widely to the periodical pul)lications of his day. When 
in 1812 his country ^Yas threatened he enlisted with the American 
anny and fought with all the traditional ardor of a Scottish Ameri- 
can. During all his public life he never lost interest in the Indians 
who had been his boyhood friends but freciuently mingleil with 
them vnitil tin- tla\' of his dt-ath in 1S6.4. 

Harriet Maxwell Converse. Thi- second wife of Hon. Thomas 
Maxwell was Marie Purdy, a lady of culture, education and refine- 
ment. She was the mother of the se\en children of Thomas 
Maxwell. The youngest was Harriet Maxwell, born in 1836 in 
Elmira. One of the old family scrapbooks contains a clipping 
wliich relates that Harriet left Klmira. at the age of 9. after the death 
of her mother, went to Milan. O.. " where she was dvily put to 
school." It was at this time she first began to write verse for 
publication. A gentlem.an who was her playmate in the days 
before her departure says he has a distinct and \ivid recollection 
of her in a white dress and a broad red sash tied in an immense 
bow. " I can shut my e\'es and see her as she appeared then, one of 
the most graceful little girls I ever saw." 

In 1S61 Harriet Maxwell Clarke, then the young widow of G. B. 
Clarke, one of the owners of Congress Spring, Saratoga, married 
Frank Buchanan Converse, of Westfield. Mass., a friend and play- 
mate of her early childhood. For five years after her marriage 
she traveled in Eunpe. Asia and Africa and toured the United 
States. Her husband. Mr Converse. Vvas an inventor and musician. 
He had spent his early days in the west where he experienced all 
the adventures of the early pioneer. He lived with the Indians 
and became a great favorite with them. His skill as an athlete. 
and his dexteritv with the rifie and l)ow won their admiration. 

After the return of Mr and Mrs Converse to the Fast they took 
up their home in Mott Havm, afterward removing to West 46th 
street, New York city. 

Mrs Converse's interest m lii'ii.iii> inay be desiribed as heredi 
tarv. It is quite i)(»ssible, however, that although she might evn 
have V)cen a loyal friend to them, she might nexer have known 
them intimately had it not been for her ac(]uaintance with (ien. 
Kly S. Barker, himself a Seneca Indian of the Wolf Clan, to which 
Red Jacket belonged. Oftentim.es when environments are fonign 
we fail to ap])reciate the circumstances of otliers, nur are wi- able 



IROOUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS I7 

to do so, for it is experience which makes one able to appreciate 
The white man's metropoHs and the Indian's reservation are the 
opposing extremes of ci\'ihzation and there is little in the bustling 
complex city to remind one of the quiet simple reservation. Thus, 
although Mrs Converse had within her all the elements which were 
capable of knowing sympathetically, understanding appreciatively 
and loving steadfastly the Indians whom her father and grand- 
father had loved, it required an awakening stimulus to arouse her 
interest in this direction. And once awakened there could be no 
turning. The moment Mrs Converse met the Iroquois sachem 
her life and thought took a new direction. The great mind of the 
Indian had furnished the impulse.' 

For years Mrs Converse had written for the l)cst periodicals in 
America and Great Britain, and her essays and poems were widely 
copied. Her poems written in the old Scottish for the Edinburgh 
journals awakened the fires of Highland patriotism and received 
an abundance of warm praise. Subsequently she was a regular 
contributor to the Ladies Journal (Edinburgh), the Scottish 
American and the British Advertiser. She became a regular 
contributor to several American magazines and her liter- 
ary career became assured. Her book of poems, Sheaves, 
passed through several editions and was enthusiastically received 
by the most rigid critics. Her friend John G. Whittier, read and 
reread the volume and then wrote her, "It is a sheaf in which 
there are no tares." The gifted authoress received also a com- 
plimentarv letter from Tennyson and the volume even inspired 
Dom Pedro, the Emperor of Brazil, to write a letter of appreciation. 
The press was universally warm in its praise and even the New 
York Independent, usually so severe in its criticism of poetical as- 
pirants, copied several of her poems and said that at least one of 
the number was worthy of Keats. 

It was this promising hterary career which Mrs Converse re- 
linquished to devote the remainder of her life to the study and 
defense of the Indians of New York. General Parker took her to 
his reservation and to the Tuscarora Reservation where she met his 
sister, Mrs Caroline Mountpleasant, wife of Chief John Mount- 
pleasant of the Tuscaroras. In 1881 she visited the Cattaraugus 
Reservation where she became acquainted Avith the descendants 
of Red Jacket. 

'Although Ely S. Parker pDSses^ed a great store of infDrmation relating to his people, 
the Iroquois, his busy life as an army officsr and engineer gave him little time to record in 
print much of his knowledge. He seemed better able to inspire others to study and write. 
Morgan's League of the Iroquois contains some of his essays and indeed Morgan acknowl- 
edges Parker as his collaborator. If Morgan is the "father of American anthropology" 
Parker gave him the inspiration. It is not strange, therefore, that he imparted to Mrs 
Converse the impetus for her researches. 



[8 



\i:\V YORK STATK MUSEUM 



For many years her knowledge of the Irocjiu is had been gleaned 
solely from the manuseripts left by her father and from the Lcagiiv 
of the Iroquois, the joint work of Lewis H. Morgan and General E. S. 
Parker. With the insight of Indian character which these works 
had given her, her actual experiences among the Indians themselves 
fanned her interest into a passion. She admired their laws and 
customs, she marveled at their wondrous national vitality, their 
endurance, and she loved them. And they, finding her a friend, 
loved her. 

Mrs Converse's untiring acti\ity in behalf cjf her red friends won 
their esteem and confidence. Her labors both at Washington ami 




Mrs Converse at the time of her mloption 



at Albany, before the federal and state legislative bodies, at once 
j)laced her conspicuously before the public as a friend of the Indians 
and those who planned adverse legislation feared the forces she 
was able to muster in opposition. The best men in private and 
in public life were her friends and anxious to fight as she directed. 



Plate 2 





Xlg^r^ih 




<P/L^ 



-^ 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS I9 

The Indians were grateful and thus expressed themselves, but 
were vinable for a time to find a suitable wa}^ for expressing it by 
other means than words. Then they began to shower their ancient 
heirlooms upon her, articles of embroidered buckskin, chieftains' 
belts, ceremonial regalia, strange musical instruments, beadwork 
and wondrously wrought silver brooches. This was not enough, 
however. Bearing in mind the record of two generations past, 
of Honest Trader, her grandfather, and Brave Boy, her father, 
and with the evidence of her loyalty fresh in their minds, they 
planned to make her a sister and a clanswoman. This could be done 
only by a family adoption and naming. The matter impressed 
Tho-na-so-wah, one of the national Seneca sachems, whose English 
name was William Jones, who with his wife, Jo-on-do-oh, planned 
to adopt Mrs Converse as a sister. The adoption ceremony took 
place on the Cattaraugus Reservation on June 15, 1885; Mrs Con- 
verse was received into the Snipe Clan and given the name Ga-ya- 
nes-ha-oh, Bearer of the Law. This was one of the ancient hered- 
itary names of the Snipe Clan honondiont, faith keepers, and was 
once borne by Ruth Stevens, Red Jacket's stepdaughter. 

The naming ceremony was elaborate and impressive. All the 
modern innovations which the Senecas had acquired were added 
to the ancient usages to increase the interest of the occasion. In 
accordance with the ancient custom the council was held out of 
doors in a council square, made by bounding a grassy spot with 
huge logs and benches, which served as seats for the throng. The 
council fire crackled within the square and the chiefs and matrons 
moved about within the space. This square was arranged in the 
Jones orchard and may be seen even today. Only once again 
was it used for council purposes. At this ceremony two others 
were " named " and one " confirmed." Hon. George S. Conover 
of Geneva, a student of Indian lore, received the name, Hy-we-saus, 
Seeker of History; Maj. Fred H. Furniss of Waterloo was named 
To-an-do-ah, Inventor; and Hon. Charles H. Hutchinson, ex- 
mayor of Utica, who had received an honorary name from an 
individual Indian, received the confirmation of his honorary title. 

It is well to note here that the conferring of a name or even 
a famih' adoption carries no national rights with it. National 
adoption and honorary naming are honors widely different. Yet 
those who have received names often believe themselves adopted 
tribesmen. Naming, does not necessarily imply adoption, nor 
does family or clan adoption imply national adoption. Considered 



20 NEW Y(»kK STATI-: Ml'SKl'M 

in the true light, few have ever been adopted into an Indian tribe, 
although many have claimed to be. There are even grades of names, 
so that to have an Indian name does not necessarily mean that one 
bears an ancient Indian title. Persistent name seekers often have 
been danced around by a grinning Indian with a rattle, who de- 
manded $5 in return for a name which no Indian would translate, 
but which the donor assures the recipient means Great Big Eagle 
Chief, or some like fiction. The white man or woman wh(j has 
persisted in his quest for an Indian name is satisfied and ever after 
boasts himself an adopted Indian. The Indians, however, only 
laugh and think of the greenback which somebody received and of 
the ludicrous name that no one will translate. A true Indian name 
is not easily obtained by a white man or woman nor is it often 
given to those who ask for it. It is, however, given those who have 
shown themselves worthy of the honor and who know how to bear 
it. Such were the names given l)y the sachems, chiefs, and war- 
riors, the faith keepers and women of the Senecas at the Tho-na- 
so-wah ceremony. 

Mrs Converse's reception in the Snipe Clan and into the family 
of William Jones, placed her in a position to secure extensive 
information regarding the customs and institutions of the 
Iroquois. The more she studied, the greater her enthusiasm be- 
came. She contributed generously to all their festivals and 
attended the various ceremonies on all the reservations in New 
York and Canada, each time the guest of the chiefs. Her home 
in New York became the stopping place of Indians visiting that 
city and the writer has met at her home Indians not only of the 
Iroquois nations of New York, but Indians from all over North 
America, from Hudson bay to Yucatan, from Dakota to Arizona 
and from Maine to British Columbia. 

Naturally, simple minded Indians in a great city were wont to 
get into complications. Sometimes they would not hesitate to 
strike down an inquisitive inhabitant of the Bowery who ventured 
a disparaging remark. The Bower\' inhabitant went to Bellevue 
and the In<lian Ui the police station. Fortunately for the Indian 
the next morning found Mrs Converse in court to plead for liis 
release, and while Mrs Converse lived the cases against Indians 
almost without excepti(jn were dismissed. Most of the cases are 
extremely humorous and an examination of the court documents 
will reveal that when an Indian in New York spoiled a white man's 
face the white man was usually lined and the Indian tlischarged, 
thoii'.'li sometimes witli -i mild iiin-imand. 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 



21 



Mrs Converse not only was the Indians' defender in the courts, 
but was constantly busy relievinj^ unfortunate Indians who had 
been robbed, swindled or injured. She always managed to 
find a ticket home for Indians who were destitute and disgusted 
with the big town. Sometimes they returned with a new pocket- 
book well lined and clean new outfits. 

Those who were stricken with diseases or injured in accidents 
found her quick to discover their plight and to furnish relief. 
Mrs Converse kept track with all the solicitude of a mother of the 




CHIEF JOHN SANDY 



One of the Canadian chiefs who welcomed Mrs Converse to the Six Nations Reservation 

in Ontario 

50 or TOO Indians who lived in New York and those who came 
temporarily. The writer has four or five large scrapbooks full of 
clippings telling of the humorous, tragic and pathetic experiences 
of Indians in New York cit^^ most of them from the pen of Mrs 
Converse herself. 

Her activities, however, were not confined to the Indians who 
dwelt in the city. She constantly watched bills before legislative 
bodies and was always on hand with a good fight when an adverse 
bill came up. The forces which she marshaled were formidable 
and the framers of the bills were obliged to capitulate every time. 



22 NI.W VoKK STATK MISICIM 

Soon after her naming Mrs Converse was initiated into the 
Pk•a^ant Valley Loilge of the " Guards of the Little Waters," 
popularly kn(»\vn as the Secret Medicine Society. She also became 
a member of the Yc-ih-dos, the Society of Mystic Animals, one 
of the Little Water fraternities. The ^vriter is a member of the 
first named onli^rand of the lodt^'c Avhich she subsequently joined, 
Ga-nun'-da-st" 

With the Iniiiaiis liic icnn ' medicine " means a mystic potence, 
or to u.sc Hewitt's ^\()rd. it means orenJa. Tlierc is no E)nglish 
equivalent of the word which the Indians term " orenda." thougfh 
it is erronetmsly and ambiguously interpreted vtcJiciiic. The 
" Medicine " Society, therefore, does not necessarily imply an 
organization devoted to the compounding of drugs or the mixing 
of nostnims. Mrs Converse was probal)ly the first white woman 
ever to have become a member of this fraternity and to have 
actually held the great Ni-ga-ni-ga'-ah in her possession. 

The love which all the Iroquois nations of New York hao i"i 
her amounted to a passion. She was their one strong arm in every 
trial. They could do nothing to express their appreciation, but to 
I)lan more to honor her. Her first naming had only been a com- 
plimentary honor and at the time considered the highest ever 
gi\-en a white woman by the Iroquois. Now they planned to give 
her a national adoption and to ratify and seal it with the consent 
of the council and the seal of the nation. 

In April 1890, the Name Holders of the Snipe Clan held a council 
and decided to change Mrs Converse's name. Thus on the follow- 
ing June there was another ceremony. Mr Converse was present 
with Mrs Converse and was given a clan adoption. He was named 
Ha-ie-no-nis, Music Maker, in allusion to his ability to wring 
melody from any musical instrument which he chose to touch. 
.Mr James Kelly of New York city, an American sculptor of note, 
at this ceremony was named Ga-nius-kwa, Stone Giant, a name 
consistent with the sculjjtor's profession. Mrs C(Miverse was 
received with great ceremon\' and named Va-ie-wa-noh. The 
next spring the Indians planneil to advance her still further in 
the honors of the nation. 

She had just succeeded in bringing about defeat to a particu- 
larly objectionable bill. The Xac Vorh World, April 8, i8()i. in 
an article entitled " Named Va-ie-wah-noh," descril)es the action 
which was taken as follows: " After the bill was killed, when the 
S<-neca council, now in session at Carrollton, Cattaraugus co.. 
New V(.rk, in the Allegany Reservation was called, an application 



IROOUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 



23 



was laid before that body to the effect that ' by love and affection ' 
it was the desire of the Indians that Mrs Converse should be received 
into their nation as a legal member of it. Upon this appeal a vote 
was taken and it was unanimously resolved that she should at 
once be invited to appear before the council and receive her Indian 
name. To this summons Mrs Converse immediately responded 
and on her arrival at Carrollton was met by a delegation of the 
Indians and escorted to the Council House where she was received 
by the Marshal of the nation and presented by him to the President 
and Board of Councilors. 




.\n Ostowa-gowa officer who presides over adoption and naming ceremonies 



The council was in session but immediately adjourned to wel- 
come her and after a prayer had been offered to the Great Spirit, 
thanking him for her safe journeying through the dangerous trail 
of the white man (a railroad accident detained her), she was 
offered a seat by the side of the President and the hour of the 
adoption ceremony was appointed. 



24 



N'FW YORK STAii M t .-^Kl'M 



A ninner was immediately sent out to notify the people and 
300 of them had gathered at the Council House when Mrs Converse 
was nominated by the Indian matrons to sit with them. Taking 
her place between two of the ' mothers ' at the head of the Council 
House, the ceremon>' proceeded, conducted by the head chief of 
the Snipe Clan of which Mrs Converse had been made a family 
member in 1884. The resolution of the council was then read in 
the Seneca language ami interpreted to her as follows: 

Whereas, Harriet Maxwell Converse has through her kindness 
and tender feeling to our Nation exerted herself to the uttermost 
in behalf of the protection and welfare of our Nation, and is always 
ready to stand at the helm of the canoe to avoid the crash of extinc- 
tion of the Indians; it is 

Resolved, On account of our appreciation and love thereof, she 
shall be honorably admitted as a member of the Seneca Nation 
of New York Indians. 




Ch.uinccy .\br.ims, Saclicm'of tin; Tonawaml.i Snipe- Clan 

The new name and title which was given was Va-ic-wa-noh, 
meaning She Watches Over Us. This name had once been bonu- 
by the wife of the celebrated Chief Coniplantor. " 

The next year, 1892. the Onondaga chiefs, the legislative body 
f)f the Six Nations, determined to share in the honors which were 
due Mr- r,.i^\:-r<.'^ 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 



25 



The plan was inaugurated at the Condolence Council held at 
the Tonawanda Reservation in September i8gi. There Mrs Con- 
verse had joined in the national condolence for the lost chief of 
the nation. After the ceremony of official mourning, the Onondaga 
chiefs nominated and elected Mrs Converse for the office formerly 
held by the dead chief of the Tonawanda Senecas, but as the cere- 
monies were conducted entirely in Indian languages, Mrs Converse 
did not learn of the action until the following spring when she 
was summoned to the Six Nations Council at Onondaga Castle. 




Daniel La Furie, Prcsidunt, of the Six Nations in 1S92 



A personal invitation was sent by Chief Daniel La Forte. At the 
council she was unanimously confirmed a chief of the Six Nations, 
an honor never before conferred upon a white woman, ^he 
certificate which was afterward handed the newly elected chief 
read as follows: 

Onondaga Castle, Mar. 25, 1892 ' j, 

This is to certify that Harriet Maxwell Converse has been duely 

elected & Installed to the Chieftain Ship of the Six Nations of the 



2(\ NliW VnKK SIA'II-. MlSll'M 

.\c\v \ tjik liulians on the iSlh day of Septcniljcr, in the vear i8qi. 
at the ContloltMUe helti on the Tonawamla Imlian Reser\ation. 
And she is therefore recognized as one of their Chiefs — to look 
after the interest of tlie Six Nations & also is recognized as Ya-ic- 
wa-noh. 

n'i/>/t'i\s Principal Chiefs 

Rev. Albert Ci'sick his 

\'iu' I'nsiJi'nt Mr Amuam (x) IIii.l 

5i.v Witions mark 

Thomas Williams 
Thomas Wkbstkk 

his 
Baptist (x) Thomas 
uiark 
PrcsiJi'iit of Six Xaliotis, Daniel La Forte 

The chiefs of the Six Nations of Canada then invited her to 
honor theni with a \isit and once again she was received with 
an ovation. 

After this culmination of honors lur Seneca friend. Dn-ne-ha- 
ga-wah (Gen. Kly S. Parker) wrote: 

I am extremely delighted to recei\e your brief note telling how 
bountifully honors have been showered upon you by the remnant < 
of the Iroquois, both in New York and Canada. You deserve thes. 
honors empty and shadowy though they be and a great deal mon . 
for the service you have rendered them. Accept, please, m\ 
hearty congratulations on your triumphal tour among these siiii])!. 
but honest hearted children of our ancient forests. 

The people you have been visiting have never been understood 
nor fully comprehended. I say that to study them satisfactorilv 
needs a life time and at the end of life one has hardly begun the 
study. The study of the race is extremely kaleidoscopic. Your 
opportunities have been grand and rare. You have improved 
them well, and tod.iv an- th.. best informed woman on Indian lore 
in America. 

Mrs Converse continued her studies and wrote many interesting 
articles about the Indians .and Indian lore for the newsi)apers of 
the country 

The death nl (icncral Tarkcr in 1895 ^^'as the first great sorrow 
which Mrs Converse had experienced since the commencement of 
her active interest in Indians and for a long period she mourned 
the loss of the friend whose counsel and suggestions had been an 
inspiration. 

Starting out to carry on the labors and researches of her father 
Hon. Thomas Maxwell, she now had as a legacy the work and 
plans which (Jeneral I'arker left. lie had been a stanch friend of 
his people, an able sachem and a true Seneca. His counsel had been 



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IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 2^ 

sought in all national matters by his people and his advice by the 
legislators of the white men when Indian law was involved. Mrs 
Converse therefore must redouble her vigilance and perfect her 
knowledge of the Indians. The necessity of collecting material 
to illustrate their culture impressed her and she began to complete 
her collection. About this time the State Museum was given an 
appropriation with which to establish an Indian museum. Mrs 
Converse's interest was awakened and she saw her opportunity to 
place the State in possession of a magnificent collection of articles 
illustrating the culture of the Iroquois. The collection was given 
in memory of her father Thomas Maxwell and is known as the 
Converse-Maxwell memorial. Subsequently her services were 
sought b}' the State as a collector for the museum and to her the 
State Museum is indebted for an interesting portion of the ethno- 
logical exhibit. It was largely through Mrs Converse's influence 
that the National Council of the Onondagas passed the wampum 
belts of the Five Nations into the keeping of the State Museum. 
To her we owe a matchless collection of ceremonial paraphernalia 
and more than a hundred specimens of Iroquois silver work which 
include brooches, buckles, disks, arm bands, bracelets, earrings, 
beads and crowns or head bands. It was planned that Mrs Con- 
verse should write several museum bulletins relating to her collec- 
tions, but because of a change in arrangement she w^as able only 
to publish one paper, " Iroquois Silver Brooches " [N. Y. State 
Mus. 54th An. Rep't, v. i]. 

Secretary Dewey of the Board of Regents, when Mrs Converse's 
work for the museum had been finished, wrote: 

Dear Mrs Converse: I want to thank you on behalf of the 
State for the great services you have so unselfishly rendered it in 
building up our new Indian museum. Much that has been accom- 
plished could hardly have been brought about by any other agency. 
Desirable as it was, no one had the confidence of the Indians and 
could guide them to wise decisions so well, and you have done 
them a great service in getting into fireproof quarters the relics 
of their wonderful career. I hope our Indian day and the good 
feeling shown on both sides was but the beginning of more satis- 
factory relations between the white and red men of the Empire 
State. 

I am sure that as long as you have strength you will be deeply 
interested in anything that advances the best interests of the 
Iroquois, and we shall rely on you in all these matters as our adviser. 
Perhaps we shall baptize you with the name, say " The Woman 
Who Works for the Indians," thus making you an honorary member 



28 NKW YORK STATK MUSKl'M 

of the University staff as the Indians so wisely liave made vou a 
chief among them. 

Pray accept my own thanks personally as well as otficially for 
all you have done, with the hope that even more will be accom- 
plislied in the future. We all ai)preciate the value and unselfish- 
ness of your labors and shall not soon forget you in this depart- 
nunf of lilt- rni\ersity activities. 

Yours very truly 

Melvil Dewey 

After Mrs Con\ersc had finished her wurk for the State 
Museum she placed a number of interesting and valuable series of 
relics in the American Museum of Natural History of New York 
city, and in the Peabody Museum of American Archeology and 
Ethnology of Cambridge, Mass. 

Mrs Converse's philanthropic work consumed almost her entire 
time, although she found moments which she utilized for the 
preparation of newspaper and magazine articles. 

Most of the immense volume of data which she had collected 
rested in rough fragmentary notes illegible to any one but 
herself. The time which might have been devoted to getting 
them in form was consumed by her practical work for the Indians. 

To the writer was left Mrs Converse's library of Indian subjects 
and most of her manuscripts. He has been able to rescue from 
her notes more than a dozen myth tales, intended for incorporation 
in her " Myths and M\-stics," and also several other manuscripts 
relating to Indian matters. These are included in this volume 
among the miscellaneous papers, but the greater part of her data 
can never be used. 

In October 1903 Mrs Converse was prostrated by the death of 
her husband. As a man of fine literary tastes, a deep student of 
human nature, he had been her invaluable aid for man}' years. 
His sudden death was a shock from which Mrs Converse never re- 
covered. It seemed impossible for her to banish the sorrow from 
her mind. Hex Indian friends in New York city used every means 
within their power to comfort her. They brought presents of 
strange relics to revive once again her interest in her collections, they 
gathered at her home and sought to entertain her with stories of 
old, they brought their native delicacies to her home and prepared 
them for her table, but all in vain. Interest was but momentary 
and the memory of her bereavement would settle again like a 
clutching shroud that could not be shaken off. The Indians never 
ceased, however, io minister to her. Her grief had also robbed 
her of her genius and she c(mld no longer use her pen with her 




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IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 29 

customary fluency. Her journalistic work became neglected and 
she was unable to finish her work on myths and mystics of the 
Iroquois, which now forms the basis of this volume. 

On the evening of November i8th she was invited to take dinner 
with Chief Tahamont of the Abenakis, his family and friends at 
the chief's residence on West 26th street. The Indians waited 
anxiously for her appearance and finally fearing that something 
serious had detained her dispatched one of their number, a young 
Mohawk, to her home. Upon his arrival at the house he entered, 
there being no response to his rapping, and found her unconscious 
where she had fallen. She was yet breathing but expired before 
a physician arrived. Upon her desk was an almost illegible note 
which she had left for the writer of this sketch just before she 
fell. She wrote that she felt death upon her and left directions as 
to certain matters. The day of her death was the first on which 
the writer had been absent from, her home for several weeks. 

The Indians of New York were immediately notified and 50 
came from all parts of the State to attend the funeral. Some were 
engaged in their farm work when the telegram was handed them 
and in order to reach New York in time some came just as they 
were, rather than miss the only train which would bring them to 
the funeral. Her faithful friends to the last were the " pagans " 
who allowed neither ceremony nor convention to prevent them 
from carrying out the honors due the noble dead. After their 
ancient way they addressed her as she lay in state and poured out 
their grief to the spirit which they believed hovered over the body. 
The Indian m.atrons who were present placed about her neck the 
sacred beads and the men placed a pair of moccasins at her feet. 
Charms and death journey requisites were also placed at her side. 
The chieftain emblem, a string of purple wampum which had lain 
above her was lifted and outspread again in the form of " the 
horns " of a chief's office. The wampum was then handed to 
Joseph Keppler, a New York publisher who for several years had 
studied with Mrs Converse and to whom the Senecas had given a 
national adoption. His clan name is Gy-ant-wa-ka, the name 
once held by the celebrated Cornplanter. Mr Keppler accepted 
the wampum and his election as the successor of Mrs Converse 
afterward was confirmed by the Indians on the reservations. 

After the funeral ceremony (November 22) which was held in 
the Merritt Chapel on 8th avenue, Rev. Dr Sill of St Chrysostom's 
Chapel,_^of which Mrs Converse was a member, officiating, her 
body was shipped to Elmira for interment. 



^O XKW YORK STATR MLSKl'M 

The writer was placed in cliarge of her estate by the heirs and 
an examination of her accounts showed that her fortunes had 
dwindled ahiiost to nothing. Ikr hfe liad been spent in giving 
and in doing for others. Her charity extentled not only to the 
unfortunate red race, but to the distressed of every race and class. 
She never neglected an opportunity to ilo good and oftentimes 
placed herself in embarrassing positions in her zeal to better the 
eondition of the unfortunate. 

Mrs Converse was a woman of remarkable personality and her 
nature was entirely unselfish. Her friends have not ceased to 
mourn her loss for the intluence of her fine personality has imbued 
them far too deeply to be soon forg<jtten. 



Plate 5 




Part of the Harriot Maxwell Converse collection ol silver brooches 
now in the State Museum 



Part 1 
IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 

BY 
HARRIET MAXWELL CONVERSE 

PREFACE 

In these legends, which I have gathered from time to time 
during the 22 years of my adoption among the Seneca Indians, 
I have endeavored to adhere to the poetical metaphor of these 
people. Of the 40' which wall be included in the volume, save 
four or five, none of them have been published; and it has been 
my privilege to listen to these stories during the winter season, 
which is the only time when an Indian will relate his mystery tales. 
They have descended to me first through my grandfather, then my 
father, finally to be corroborated and recited to me by the Indi- 
ans themselves. 

Harriet Maxwell Converse 



In Mrs Converse's text the English method of spelling Indian names has been used' 
In his footnotes, however, the editor has used the phonetic system generally adopted by 
students of American languages. 



CREATION^ 



Hah-gweh-di-yu, Spirit of Good. Hah-gweh-da-et-gah, Spirit of Evil. 
Ata-en-sic,' the Sky Woman. Hah-nu-nah,'' the Turtle 

The floating island 

By Iroquois mythology, the earth was the thought of the Indian 
Ruler of a great island which floats in space. In all the Iroquois 
myths, the natural and the supernatural are so closely blended 
that they seem of one realm. Yet in the story of the creation, 



•The manuscript as found among Mrs Converse "s'-pa^jers embraced but 22 legends. From 
her rough notes the editor has added 14 other myths andT5Ht-tales besides a number of mis- 
cellaneous papers. 

^ See Appendix A, p. 185. 

5 Ata'-en'-sic. This is the Huron name for the first mother, and not that of^Htie (confeder- 
ated) Iroquois. The Senecas usually give this character no name other than KJi^gen'-tci, 
literally old woman or ancient bodied. This name is not a personal one, however. 
Converse has therefore substituted the Huronian personal name for the Iroquoian comr 
name. 

^Hah -nu-nah. The mystic name of the turtle. This name is used in the lodge ceremonies 
tf the Little Water Company. The ordinary name for the turtle is Ha'-no'-wa. 



M:\\ \i>UK SlAll-: MISI-IM 



the Ruler bestowed universal authority upon the twn Spirits, 
Good and Evil, who remain on the earth always. 

The Ruler, the Great Creative Heinj^;, is known by various 
names, Sho-j^va-yah-dih-sat-oh (He Who Created Us), Ha-wcn- 
ni-yu (He Who Governs*. Ilah-ni-j^o-e-yoo (Good Mind), Great 
S]»irit and Tha-nio-do-oh or To no-do-oo, the latter boin<: sfcncrally 
adopted by the Injquois.' 

This mythical island of ilie Inmuois is a place ol eternal ])oacc. 
In its abundance there are no burdens to weary; in its fruilfulness 
all needs are endlessly ])ro\i(K'd. Td its perpetual calm death 
never comes, and to its tran(|uillity, n<t desire, no sorrow nor ])ain. 

The council tree 

In the far away days of this lloatinj^ island there grew one stately 
tree- that liranched beyond the rani^e of vision. Perpetually 
laden with fnjit and blossoms, the air was frai^rant with its per- 
fume, and the people gathered to its shade where councils were 
held. 



' The term Great Spirit is not Iroquoian but Algonquian and a literal interpretation of 
their word, Tclii Manitou. The Iroquois equivalent would be Notwais'ha-Rowane. (Spirit 
Great), a term never associated with the idea of the Supreme Deity. Morgan used the term 
Great Spirit in the League of the Iroquois but probably because it was the popular name 
with while men. The idea of a Supreme Being was not a well developed one until the 
advent of white missionaries. 

The present religious system of the Iroquois requires that The Maker be addressed as 
Ho-dia-nok'-da Hed'-io-he Our Creator. This custom was inaugurated by Ga-nio'-dai'-io', 
the Seneca jirophet , and is found in section 49 of the Gai'-wi-io' code. The Blue Sky trans- 
lation which the writer has at hand reads as follows: 

So now another one I will tell you. 
W There is a controversy in the upper worhl. Two beings are disputing over you the children 
of earth. Two beings are disiiuting. One is the Great Ruler and the other is the Cave 
Dweller. .Vnd you who know only of the earth know nothing of the discussion. 

So now the Evil One said, " I am the ruler of the earth because when I command I speak 
but once .and men obey." 

Now Hawcni'io said this to the Evil One, " The earth is mine for I have createil it and 
iiii'i .11'! \'i'.: A\'\ iiM p.in of it." 

■ 1. " I do acknowledge th::t you have created all but I say men 
■ it obcv you." 
■■> the livil One, " The children (at least) are m«ne for they have 

1 the Evil One. " Now I tell you the children arc mine for when I say. ' Pick 
u; 1 smite your itlayfellow." they do. Aye, the children arc mine." 

'l!.i.:i llav. cni'io .said. " I will send my messengers once more to tell how I feel. In that 
way I wil) claim my own." 

T' ■ Iv.l I >tii ri;ilied, " Even so it will not be long before they forget and transgress the 
l:i' And this I will say. one wonl, and they will do what I say. It is 

tr in the name. Ha-nis'sc-o-no. It is true that who speaks of me. though 

• '1 tin- c.^r'h, will tind me at his back." 

lid to men beings. " Now you must not say Hawcni'io, Ruler. 
t • e'f Kulcr. Ami whoever is mine must say. Ho-iiia-niik'-da 

l!' ' . ■ I when you speak of the Evil t)ne. say Se-go-ic -wat'-ha, Tor- 

nicniur, lUr llicii lit 1>,iiua.. lii.il you are aware that he is the punisher of evil souls that leave 
the earth." 

S»j now they (the mcsscnKcrH) said it ami he ((ia-nio'-ilai'-io") said it. 

Nia'-ic-htik (So it was). 

• The central tree in the heaven world was the apple. This tree figures in all the various 
coHmngonic myth*. Later in the center of the lower world the Good Mind created 
tree, the tree of lijfht. 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 33 

One day the Great Ruler said to his people: " We will make a 
new place where another people mav grow. Under our council 
tree is a great cloud sea which calls for our help. It is lonesome. 
It knows no rest and calls for light. We will talk to it. The 
roots of our council tree point to it and will show the way." 

Having commanded that the tree be uprooted, the Great Ruler 
peered into the depths where the roots had guided, and summoning 
Ata-en-sic, who was with child, bade her look down. Ata-en-sic 
saw nothing, but the Great Ruler knew that the sea voice was 
calling, and bidding her carry its life, wrapped around her a great 
ray of light ' and sent her down to the cloud sea. 

Hah-nu-nah, the Turtle 

Dazzled by the descending light enveloping Ata-en-sic, there 
was great consternation among the animals and birds inhabiting 
the cloud sea, and they counseled in alarm. 

" If it falls it may destroy us," they cried. 

" Where can it rest?" asked the Duck. 

" Only the oeh-da (earth) can hold it," said the Beaver, " the 
oeh-da which lies at the bottom of our waters, and I will bring it." 
The Beaver went down but never returned. Then the Duck ven- 
tured, but soon its dead bod}^ floated to the surface. 

Many of the divers had tried and failed when the Aluskrat, 
knowing the way, volunteered to obtain it and soon returned 
Vjearing a small portion in his paw. " But it is heavy," said he, 
" and will grow fast. Who will bear it? " 

The Turtle was willing, and the oeh-da was placed on his hard 
shell. 

Having received a resting place for the light, the water birds, 
guided by its glow, flcAv upward, and receiving the woman on their 
widespread wings, bore her down to the Turtle's back. 

And Hah-nu-nah, the Turtle,- became the Earth Bearer. When 
he stirs, the seas rise in great waves, and when restless and violent, 
earthquakes yawn and devour. 

Ata-en-sic, the Sky Woman 

The oeh-da grew rapidly and had become an island when Ata- 
en-sic, hearing voices under her heart, one soft and soothing, the 



1 The light was made by the Fire Beast, Ga-ha-shein-dye-tha. 

- The belief that the earth is supported by a gigantic turtle is one that is shared by many 
races. In the ancient myths of the Hindoos, for example, the earth is described as resting 
on the back of four elephants which stand upon the back of an enormous turtle. In Iroquoian 
ceremonies the turtle symbol plays an important part. 



34 ^'E^v york state museum 

other loud and contentious, knew that her mission to people the 
island was nearing. 

To her solitude two lives were coming,' one peaceful and patient, 
the other restless and vicious. The latter, discovering light under 
his mother's arm, thrust himself through, to contentions and 
strife, the right boiTi entered life for freedom and peace. 

These were the Do-ya-da-no, the twin brothers, Spirits of Good, 
and Evil.- Foreknowing their powers, each claimed dominion, 
and a struggle between them began, Hah-gweh-di-yu claiming the 
right to beautify the island, while Hah-g^veh-da-^'t-g^h determined 
to destroy. Each went his way, and wlitiv p^'ace had reigned 
discord and strife prevailed. 

The Sun, Moon and Stars 

At the birth of Hah-gweh-di-yu his Sky Motlicr, Ata-en-sic, 
had died, and the island was still dim in the dawn of its new life 
when, grieving at his mother's death, he shaped the sky with the 
palm of his hand, and creating the Sun from her face,^ lifted it 

' In this version the twin boys are made the firstborn. The full versions always relate 
the birth of a daughter who becomes impregnated by the wind and gives birth to the twins, 
dies upon their birth and leaves them to the care of the Sky Woman, the heaven mother. 

* The idea of moral dualism is found more or less developed in the beliefs of most primitive 
races. Probably in its most primitive form the idea is not of a moral dualism but the idea 
of the conflict of constructive and destructive forces. Evolving cither naturally or changed 
by contact with civilized peoples, the dualism of warring powers took upon itself the dualism 
of the moral forces. The modem cosmologic mjah names the two spirits, the Good and 
the Evil, but when Father Broebcuf visited the Hurons in 1636 he found them named losk- 
eha. the MVii/<r One and Tawiscara. the Dark One. 

The Wyandot names are, Tseh-seh-howh-hooh-nyk, Man Made of Fire, and Ta-weh- 
skah-sooh-nyk. Made of Flint. 

The idea of the Light God and the Dark God is a most significant one and leads to fields 
of fruitful research. The idea is fundamentally that of light and day, and darkness and 
night: day with its sun light and activity and night with its blackness and unseen terrors. 
This underlying idea has influenced the dualistic theology of all nations. The Egyptian god 
Osiris is the Sun God, and Seti his brother the God of Darkness. In the Zend-Avesta, 
in the conflict of Light and Darkness, Ahura-Mazda and Anra-Mainyn, arc the good and 
evil spirits, Ormuzd and Ahriman, and in modern Christianity where the Spirit of Light is 
in conflict with the Prince of Darkness. 

• The Scnccas still honor the Sun. En-dc-kft Da'-kwa, in a sun dance and call the ceremony 
En-dc-ki Da'-kwS Da-non-di-non-io' (sun thanksgiving). The ceremony has no certain 
time but is called by any one who ilreams that it is necessary for the welfare of the settle- 
ment. The dance begins at noon, when arrows are shot up at the sun while the people 
Rive their war cries, for the sun loves the sound and symbols of battle. The rite takes place 
in open air and begins with the chant of the sun song holder who casts tobacco into a tire. 
Twice again showers of arrows are sl)ot as offerings to the sun when the great feather dance 
it performed in honor of lindeka Dakwa. 

The moon is likewise honored by the Scnccas in the ceremony of the Soi-ka-da-kwa 
D<jn-di-nion-nio, tiwon thintkii:iiiiit!- The ceremony is called by any one who may be torn 
mandcd by a dream to ilo so, or may be ordereil through the advice of a diviner, teller of 
the future and of necessities. In the moon ceremony the holder of tlic moon song recites 
his thanksgiving ritual and casts the sacred tobacco upon the flames of the ceremonial fire. 
The moon is " amused " by the game of peach stones, though anciently deer bone buttons 
were used. The ceremony takes plnrc oftcr sunset and lasts until midnight when a feast 
it distributed to terminate the rite. 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 35 

there, saying, " You shall rule here where your face will shine 
forever." But Hah-gweh-da-gt-g^h set Darkness' in the west 
sky, to drive the Sun down behind it. 

Hah-gweh-di-yu then drew forth from the breast of his Mother, 
the Moon and the Stars, and led them to the Sun as his sisters 
who would guard his night sky. He gave to the Earth her body, 
its Great Mother, from whom was to spring all life. 

All over the land Hah-gweh-di-yu planted towering mountains, 
and in the valleys set high hills to protect the straight rivers as 
thcv ran to the sea. But Hah-gweh-da-et-gah wrathfully sundered 
the mountains, hurling them far apart, and drove the high hills 
into the wavering valleys, bending the rivers as he hunted them 
down. 

Hah-gweh-di-yu set forests on the high hills, and on the low 
plains fruit-bearing trees and vines to wing their seeds to the 
scattering winds. But Hah-gweh-da-et-gah gnarled the forests 
besetting the earth, and led monsters to dwell in the sea, and 
herded hurricanes in the sky which frowned with mad tempests 
that chased the Sun and the Stars. 

The Animals and Birds 

Hah-gweh-di-yu went across a great sea where he met a Being 
who told him he was his father.- Said the Being, " How high 
can you reach? " Hah-gweh-di-yu touched the sky. Again he 
asked, " How much can you Hft? " and Hah-gweh-di-yu grasping 
a stone mountain tossed it far into space. Then said the Being, 
" You are worthy to be my son; " and lashing upon his back two 
burdens, bade him return to the earth. 

Hah-gweh-di-yu swam for many days, and the Sun did not 
leave the sky until he had neared the earth. The burdens had 
grown heavy but Hah-gweh-di-yu was strong, and when he reached 
the shore they fell apart and opened. 

From one of the burdens flew an eagle guiding the birds which 
followed filling the skies with their song to the Sun as they winged 
to the forest. From the other there came animals led by the deer, 
and they sped quickly to the mountains. But Hah-gweh-da-et-g3,h 

1 Darkness, called either So-son'-do-wa, great darkness, or De-io-da-son-dai-kon, thick 
night. 

2 In the writer's version the Good Mind (Light One) was bidden by his father " to the 
East " and when he found him, to ask for power. The father was found in the 'top of a high 
mountain in the east ocean and appeared in a blinding glare of light. The Light One was 
ordered to prove himself a son, commanded to cast skyward great rocks, withstand winds, 
floods and flames. He triumphed in the ordeal and his father gave him power over the 
four elements. This is nothing less than a sun myth, the sun being the father of light. 



3() M\\ V<'KK SIATl- ML'SKLWI 

followeil with wild beasts that devour, and j^rim flying creatures 
that steal life without sign, and creeping reptiles to poison the way. 

Duel of Hah-gweh-di-yu and Hah-gweh-da-et-gah 

When the earth was ctjnipleted and Hah-gweh-di-yu had be- 
stowed a protecting Spirit upon each of his creatitjn, he besought 
Hah-gweh-da-et-gAh to reconcile his vicious existences to the 
pcacefulness of his own, but Hah-gweh-da-et-gAh refused, and 
challenged Hah-gweh-<li-yu to combat, the victor to become tlu' 
ruler of the earth. 

Hah-gweh-da-ft-g:lh i)roposed wea]K)ns which he could control, 
poisonous roots strong as flint, monster's teeth, and fangs of ser- 
pents. But these Hah-gweh-di-yu refused, selecting the thorns 
of the giant crab-apple tree, which were arrow pointed and strong. 

With the thorns they fought. The battle continued many 
days, ending in the overthrow of Hah-gweh-da-tt-g^h. 

Hah-gweh-di-yu, having now become the ruler, banished his 
brother to a pit' under the earth, whence he -can not return. But 
he still retains Servers, half human and half beast, whom he sends 
to continue his destructive work. These Servers can assume any 
form Hah-gweh-da-ct-gilh may command, and they wander all 
over the earth. 

Hah-gweh-di-yu, faithful to the prophesy of the Great Ruler of 
the floating island, that the earth should be peopled,- is continually 
creating and protecting. 

GA-OH, SPIRIT OF THE WINDS 
Though of giant proportions, Ga-oh,-' who governs the winds, 
is confined in the broad north sky.' Were Ga-oh free, he would 
tear the heavens into fragments. 



' The pit is the underworld and is called the " cave." 

'The first beings of earth were a race of gods who returned to the sky world when the 
Good Mind created nien-heinKS. This creation was acconiplishcil as follows: .After the 
Good Mind had jiulled ui) the tree of liRht he beheld his face in the pool of water in which 
it had grown. This gave him the i<lea of molding images in red clay which he afterwani 
transformc<l into living beings. Thus did the human race take origin. The idea of creation 
" in his own image " is not necessarily of biblical origin. It is a primitive idea and one that 
might be develoi>cd inrlependently by widely separated i>coples. 

'Ga-oh is the name of the wiml spirit according to Morgan. The name for winil. how- 
ever, is Ga-ha (Seneca). The whirlwin<l is called Sha-go-dio-wcrt'-go-wa. he Ji'fciiJs tlu-tn. 
This is al.so the name of one of the False Faces. 

• Ga-oh elwclls in the west sky according to the researches of the writer, agreeing with 
Morgan who names the western sky as the alxidc of the wind spirit and calls his dwelling 
I>a-yo-da-do-go-wa. Ga-oh is not an evil being, howsoever iiis four win<ls may rage, but 
on the contrary, solicitous for the welfare of men and ever obcilicnt to the comman<ls of 
the Creator. 



IKonUOlS .MV'lJIS AND IKCJKXDS 37 

In the ages of his soHtary confinement, he does not forget his 
strength, and punishes the winds to subjection when they suddenly 
rear for flight. 

At the entrance of his abode and reined to his hands, are four 
watchers ' : the Bear (north wind). Panther (west wind). Moose 
(east wind), and Fawn (south wind). 

When r'.a-i)h unbinds Bear, it leads its hurricane winter winds 
to Earth ; when he loosens Panther, its stealthy west Avinds creep 
down and follow Earth with tlieir snarling blasts; when Moose is 
released, its east wind meets the Sun and its misty breath floats 
over the Sun's path blinding it with rains, and when Ga-oh unlocks 
his reins fn^ni Fawn, its soothing south winds whisper to Earth 
and she summons her Spring, who comes planting the seeds for 
the summer sunglow. 

Though in his subjugation of the winds it is Ga-oh's duty to 
pacify them, frequently they are influenced by his varying moods. 
When Ga-oh is contented and happy, gentle and invigorating 
breezes fan Earth ; when irritated by his confinement and Ga-oh is 
restless, strong winds agitate the waters and bend the forest trees ; 
and when frenzied to mighty throes, Ga-oh becomes vehement, 
ugly blasts go forth, uprooting trees, dashing the streams into 

' The American Indians of both continents personified the four winds and the allusions 
to the wind spirits in their mythology are strong and beautiful. The four winds are usually 
regarded as the spirits of the four cardinal points, or the four corners of the earth. The 
subsequent development of a simple myth has often obscured the original meaning but in 
the wind myths the inferences are so strong that the winds as the four characters are not 
long hidden to the careful student. 

The Algonquinsand Sioux trace their origin to four ancestors which inquiry reveals to be 
the four winds. In Iroquois mythology the daughter of the sky woman in some versions is 
said to have been " wrapped around " with a wind by whom she became the mother of twin 
boys. The Creeks are more specific and say that they sprang from four beings who came 
from the four corners of the world and built a sacred fire where they met. In many of the 
American languages the names for the four directions are the names for the winds of these 
directions also. The Sioux call the four quarters of the globe, ta-te-onye-toba, which 
literally means, whence four ivinds come. Among the Mayas the names for the cardinal 
points are the names for the winds. Invocation to the winds has been a common practice 
among all nations. The Aztecs prayed to Tlalocs, the god of showers: " Ye who dwell at 
the four corners of the earth, at the north, at the south, at the east, at the west . . ." 
[Sahagun. Hist, de la Neuva Espanas, p. 375] The E.skimos invoked Sillam Innua, the 
owner of the winds, and believed that his abode was the haven of departed souls. Thus in 
sickness they prayed to the four winds to summon a new soul for the afflicted person, and 
called each wind by name, Pauna (east). Sauna (west), Auna (north), Kauna (south) 
[Egends. Nachrichten von Gronland]. One of the most beautiful invocations of the 
Iroquois is the wind song sung by the priest of the Gai'wiio' as he stands at the northeast 
corner of the Long House and sings the wind song to greet the rising sun. 

Some of these references will be found in Brinton's Myths of the New World. Kirkland 
relates that the Tuscaroras told him that in their religion were four " little gods." In the 
east was Tyogetaet, rising up or making his appearance, (sunrise or dawn); in the- west was 
Yucataghphki, twilight; in the north was Jothoel, somewhat cold; in the south, I'nte. 

Invocation of the winds by Aryan and Semitic races was a common thing, nor are instances 
lacking in the sacred scriptures, see Ezekiel 37:9 and Revelations 7:1. 



38 M \\ VORK STATE MUSEUM 

leaping furies, lifting the sea waters to mountainous waves, and 
devastating the earth. 

Notwithstanding these outbursts, Ga-oh is faithful in discipliriing 
the winds to their proper seasons, and guarding Earth from the 
rage of the elements. 

When the north wind blows strong, the Iroquois say, " The Bear 
is prowling in the sky"; if the west wind is violent, " The Panther 
is whining." When the cast wind chills with its rain, " The Moose 
is spreading his breath"; and when the south wind wafts soft 
breezes, " The Fawn is returning to its Doe." 

NAMING THE WINDS 

Ga-oh, Spirit of the Winds. Ya-o-gah, the Bear. Da-jo-ji, the Panther. 
O-yan-do-ne, the Moose. Ne-o-ga, the Fawn 

When, in the creation of the earth, Hah-gweh-di-yu limited the 
duties of the powerful Ga-oh to the sky, assigning to him the govern- 
ing of the tempests, he blew a strong blast that shook the whole 
earth to trembling, and summoned his assistants to a council. 

Ga-oh chose his aids from the terrestrial because of their knowl- 
edge of the earth; and when his reverberating call had ceased its 
thunderous echoes, he opened his north gate wide across the sky 
and called Ya-o-gah, the Bear. 

Lumbering over the mountains as he pushed them from his 
path, Ya-o-gah, the bulky bear, who had battled the boisterous 
winds as he came, took his place at Ga-oh 's gate and waited the 
mission of his call. Said Ga-oh, " Ya-o-gah, you are strong, you 
can freeze the waters with your cold breath; in your broad arms 
you can carry the wild tempests, and clasp the whole earth when 
I bid you destroy. I will place you in my far north, there to watch 
the herd of my winter winds when I loose them in the sky. You 
shall be North Wind. Enter your home." And the bear lowered 
his head for the leash with which Ga-oh bound him, and submis- 
sively took his place in the north sky. 

In a gentler voice Ga-oh called Ne-o-ga, the Fawn, and a soft 
breeze as of the summer, crept over the sky; the air grew fragrant 
with the odor of (lowers, and there were voices as of babbling 
brooks telling the secrets of the summer to the tune of birds, as 
Ne-o-ga came proudly lifting her head. 

Said Ga-oh, " You walk with the summer sun, and know all its 
paths; you are gentle, and kind as the sunbeam, and will rule my 
flock of the summer winds in peace. You shall be the South Wind. 
Bend your head while I leash you to the sky, for you are swift, 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 39 

and might return from me to the earth." And the gentle fawn 
followed Ga-oh to his great gate which opens the south sky. 

Again Ga-oh trumpeted a shrill blast, and all the sky seemed 
threatening; an ugly darkness crept into the clouds that sent them 
whirling in circles of confusion; a quarrelsome, shrieking voice 
snarled through the air, and with a sound as of great claws tearing 
the heavens into rifts, Da-jo-ji, the Panther, sprang to the gate. 

Said Ga-oh, " You are ugly, and fierce, and can fight the strong 
storms; you can climb the high mountains, and tear down the 
forests; you can carry the whirlwind on your strong back, and 
toss the great sea waves high in the air, and snarl at the tempests 
if they stray from my gate. You shall be the West Wind. Go 
to the west sky, where even the Sun will hurry to hide when you 
howl your warning to the night." And Da-jo-ji, dragging his leash 
as he stealthily crept along, followed Ga-oh to the furthermost 
west sky. 

Yet Ga-oh rested not. The earth was flat, and in each of its 
four corners he must have an assistant. One comer yet remained, 
and again Ga-oh 's strong blast shook the earth. And there arose 
a moan like the calling of a lost mate, the sky shivered in a cold 
rain, the whole earth clouded in mist, a crackling sound as of great 
horns crashing through the forest trees dinned the air, and 0-yan- 
do-ne, the Moose, stood stamping his hoofs at the gate. 

Said Ga-oh, as he strung a strong leash around his neck, " Your 
breath blows the mist, and can lead the cold rains; your horns 
spread wide, and can push back the forests to widen the path 
for my storms as with your swift hoofs you race with my 
winds. You shall be the East Wind, and blow your breath to chill 
the young clouds as they float through the sky." And, said Ga-oh, 
as he led him to the east sky, " Here 3^ou shall dwell fore vermore." 

Thus, with his assistants, does Ga-oh control his storms. And 
although he must ever remain in his sky lodge, his will is supreme, 
and his faithful assistants will obey! 

HE-NO, THE THUNDERER! 

As guardian of the heavens. He-no - is intrusted with the thunder, 
the voice of admonition, which can be heard above the turmoil of 



^ Naturally one of the most universal myths is that relating to the spirit of thunder- 
Many regarded the Thunderer as the great heaven deity and although subsequently the 
thunder or rain god became the servant or subordinate of the greater god, he was yet feared 
and propitiated. Thus, the rain or water god of the Aztecs, Tlaloc, who holds the thunder 
and lightning, to the primitive mind emblems of power, was once the great heaven god of 
the Nahuatl people. 

2 Hi"-no, Spirit of the Thunder, hates all mysteries, he despises monsters, unclean 
beasts and witches. He pursues with relentless fury the myth monsters and strikes them 



40 NKU VOKK STATK MLSKIM 

the tempests. It is also his duty to direct tlie rain for refreshing 
the earth. In the i)lanting season. He-no lias sv;i)ervision of the 
seeds, and in the growing time renders beneheent aid in ri]X'ning 
the fruits and matviring the harvest. 

He-no can assume the fomi (^f a human Ix-ing and. as such. 
dresse»l as a warrior, he wears in his hair a magic feather, which 
rentiers him invulnerable to the attacks of Evil. On these occa- 
sions he is invested with authority to inflict dire i)unishment upon 
evil doers, and is dreaded as the ax'cnger of \icc. 

He-no has two assistants.' one of whom is half human, the other. 
celestial. To aiil tlu-m in their terrestrial travels, they have rc- 
ceivet) no names, and so, unidcntitied by sign, they can faithfuUv 
serve his secrecy. 

In his celestial tra\els. He-no carries on his back a great basket 
containing bouUlers of the chert rock, which he hurls at evil spirits 
whenever he discovers them in the sky. Sometimes the evil 
spirits evade these boulders and tliey fall to the earth enveloped 
in fire.- 

Hefore He-no was transferred to the skies, he dwelt behind the 
great falls at Niagara, where he controlled the roaring of its waters. 

•lead with his thunder fire whenever they appear. He hates the creations of witches, such 
as images made living and witch transformations. The great horned serpents, the saistnh- 
Kowa jo(ii"hgwadoh. and the un<lerwater people fear him and often when ihey attempt to 
visit the earth world they are discovered by the vigilant storm clouds who immediately 
report their movements to Hi"-no. He hates the False Faces and all manner of sorcery. 
He must not be spoken lightly of or trifled with but frequently soothed by offerings of 
tobacco incense, for he loves oyankwa-oweh. the sacred incense. 

Hi"-no called the Iroquois his gramlchildren and they, in the thumler dance, in his honor, 
affectionately call him, Tisote. uramijathcr. Likewise he s.aid the " medicine people are my 
people" and the Little Water Company always offer him tobacco and imi>lore his favor. 

The Senccas hold a special ceremony called We-s.\'-ze every spring in honor of the Thun- 
lerer. The sound of the first thunder rumble is the sign of his first awakening and the call 
or the dance. A thanksgiving speech, Don-di-nion'-nioh. is recited and at its close the 
warriors start the war dance and dance into the Long House where the ceremony is con- 
cluded. 

' The thunder spirit has also a large family of noisy thunder boys. livery storm cloud 
s moreover a scout whose cluty is to spy out the oigont (magically malicious) forces, such 
as the creations of the evil mind, witches, the underground buffalo and the like. 

• Among the Iroquois there are several beliefs connected with lightning. Two notes 
from the editor's collection may be found of interest. 

The thunder ntcdicine. One of the most potent charms of the medicine men is alleged 
o have been the foam that is .said to ooze from the roots of a tree immediately after it has 
been struck by lightning. This foam is scooped up by the medicine man who quickly 
itantfcrs if to his mystery pouch. This mystic medicine is the magical gift of Hi"-no and 
• n'ul curt for extreme cases i.r as u final resort, 
■'•ri. When his gleaming missile has cr.'.shcd into a tree, no man must 
". :^ 1. — 'Mhe punished wooil, for some of the ragged fire that hi;s splintered 

It may ■ r the offender and cause an irritating rash to break out over his 

Ijody. 'id be burneil for the smoke will ;;ngi r Hi"-no who in his fury will 

buntt u tiiuck cloud over the offensive (lames to ticstroy the unsavory incense, liven then 
hin anger inoy not titit-.-tlf bit; hr may send great rains over the land to remind men that hs 
wishes mutt not b 



IROOUOIS MYTHS AND LKGKNDS 



41 



One of his assistants took there a bcatitiful Indian girl as his wife 
who, being transformed into a water spirit, Hved in the spray of 
tlic kinar rainbow, wliich is often seen at Niagara. But when the 











^ '^^JlSf^T!^ - 1^ — , 



Hi" no, the Thunder Spirit 
From a drawing by Jesse Cornplanter, a Seneca boy artist 

storm spirits were warring in the heavens, and He-no was sent to 
quell them, the water spirit, following her companion and He-no, 
became a dweller of the clouds. 



42 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 

'During the terrestrial life of He-no,' the Iroquois people were 
terrified by the annual visits of a hideous serpent tliat lived in a 
cave near the Niagara cataract. 

Toward the spring, when the rivers were loosing themselves 
and pouring their torrents into Lake Erie, this creature would 
emerge from its cave, and entering the burial places of the Iro- 
quois, feed on the dead; and in tiie sinuous paths of its return, 
would poison the land with a pestilence to which large numbers of 
the people fell victims. He-no pursued it, and overtaking it as it 
wound through the De-gi-ya-goh (Buffalo creek) threw a terrific 
thimderbolt upon it, and in its writhings to escape, the monster 
pushed the shores of the creek into the bends which yet remain. 

Slowly dying, it floated down the Niagara river to the verge of 
the great cataract where, in a final death throe, its bulky body 
arched backward in a semicircle extending from shore to shore. 

The dead body restrained the rushing waters for a time, but 
finding an opening througli the rocks, they dashed on, sundering 
the ledge which shelved over the river as they tumbled down the 
abyss in a riotous roar. And thus was fonned the Horse Shoe 
fall of the great cataract. 

GUN-NO-DO YAH, THE THUNDER BOY, AND THE HUMAN SNAKE 
He-no, the Thunderer, had hurled down a terrific rain storm 
which had flooded the land and overflowed the lakes and rivers, 
and, in pity for Earth, sent down Ha-de-ne-no-da-on, one of his 
aids, to pacify the waters. 

As Ha-de-ne-no-da-on was passing over a canton of the Senecas, 
he heard a voice wailing in great di tress, and descending, found 
a small child floating in the flood that had carried its parents away. 
Recognizing the child as Gun-no-do-yah, the son of a chief whom on 
his earth visits he had frequently seen, and who was a great warrior, 
he determined to save it, and carrying it to his home in the sky, 
laid it to rest on a strong black cloud and returned to earth on 
his peace mission. He-no, who had been out drilling his Thunderers, 

' The following account of Hi"-no, as told by Esquire Johnson, an old Seneca chief, will 
be found of interest: Sometime aftcnvard God met a man walking about by himself and 
addre&sinK him in a pleasant way. asked him what he was looking for. He said ht- was 
amusing himself looking around the world, that he had a great many grandchiliircn not far 
off. that he was in fact the Thunderer and had many grandchildren near and loved them 
much. Moreover, that he wished to be set about some great work and asked God to give 
him something to do. God said to him, " What can you do? " He said, " I can wash the 
world if you want me to." " Very well," said God, " that would be a good work for you 
to do and I will cmi>loy you to do that work for me. You can make it rain and wash the 
earth often." (Taken verbatim from the manuscript notes of Mrs Ashcr Wright, a mis- 
.ionary who interviewed Johnson in 1876.) 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 43 

Upon returning overheard the boy grieving the loss of his parents 
and, deciding to adopt ' him, transformed him into a Thunder 
Hunter. Said He-no, " He has been sent to me; he is a human and 
' knows all the paths of the earth, and can render me great service. 
There dwells in a lake a human monster that no mortal has been 
able to kill; my Thunderers, not being of earth, have sought him 
in vain; and he defies me and my thunderbolts while he ravages 
the lake of its fish, and frightening the fishers away deprives the 
people of their food. Gun-no-do-yah, having been human, can 
follow the trails of the earth. I will make him powerful, and give 
him a strong bow and arrow, and he shall follow my storms when 
my black clouds - shadow the lakes, and hunt the monster to its 
death." 

Now, Gun-no-do-yah, feeling that he owed his life to He-no, 
whose faithful Thunderer had rescued him from the water, was 
glad to do whatever he could to evidence his gratitude, and when 
He-no's black clouds descended to earth, he faithfully followed 
to the lakes. 

But for many months his search was in vain. Only one lake 
(Ontario) remained to be searched, and, thought Gun-no-do-yah, 
" Its waters are deep and broad, it is there I will find this terrible 
serpent." ^ So, when He-no's black clouds hung heavy over the 
lake, obscuring the light of the sun, he stealthily approached the 
shore, when to his delight, he beheld the monster lashing the water 
with its great tail. 

With steady aim Gun-no-do-yah drew his bow and sent swift 
his arrow, but before it could reach its mark, the monster had 
vanished, leaving a trail of foam in which the arrow harmlessly 
sank. 

' Orphans and neglected children in Iroquoian folklore were commonly adopted by the 
nature spirits who taught them mysteries and ceremonies. In Iroquois mythology there 
are several stories of the adoptions by Hi''-no. 

* The black clouds are thunder spies. 

'The serpent is one of the O-sais'-to-wa-ne of the Senecas or O'-nia'-hri-ko'-wacf the 
Mohawks. These creatures are divided into two tribes, the Ofi-gwi-ias and the Jo-di"- 
kwa-do'. Both are "underwater" people but the Ofi-gwi'-ias are evil men-devouring 
creatures while the Jo-di"-kwa-do' are not necessarily malicious for they sometimes help 
the distressed who may be lost on lone islands or those cast by treachery into the water 
to drown. Both tribes however are great sorcerers and therefore hated by Hi"-no who 
pursues them whenever they appear in daylight above the water. There are several tales 
telling how the underwater people coaxed boys and girls away from the land and cast upon 
them the spell by which they were adopted. They are human in form but assume the form 
of horned serpents by dressing in snake skin garments. They have houses beneath the 
waters and there appear as ordinary men. Their daughters are especially beautiful and 
captured landmen at once become enamored with them and are quite willing to don the 
shining suits (snake skins) and big feathers (horns) which make them forever Jo-di"-kwa-do'. 



44 



NEW YORK STATK Ml'SRl'M 



Manv ilavs Gun-no-do-yah had visited tlic lake 
and frequently had aimed at the nK)nster floating,' on 
the water, but only to waste his arrows in the foam 
of its trail as it vanished. But one nij^dit when the 
Thunderers were savagely hurling their l)olls over 
the lake which the clouds obscured in their black- 
ness, and the fish swam deep in fear of the rever- 
berating echoes. Gun-no-do-yah went boldly into tlie 
lake, and encountering the snake again drew his 
bow. when the snake beckoned to him to come 
closer and listen; and then it began to speak. " Come 
closer." it said. " and fear me not. I know you 
well, and I know your strong arrows; they can not 
reach me. He-no. your master. I fear not; I scorn his 
thunder, the lightning passes by me. Your task is 
useless and you need not serve him. I am your 
friend and will teach you how to shoot the fish in 
the night. I will reveal to you all the secrets of the 
waters. Come with me. I will guide you to my home 
in the rocks deep below which the sun never sees. 
Come and comb my long mane, it is tangled with 
fish and is heavy." 

Gun-no-do-yah would not listen, he came to kill; 
but as he drew his bow with all his strength, the 
string snapped, the dead arrow fell to the water, and 
he was powerless. Raising its head high in the air, 
the monster opened its hissing mouth, and seizing 
Gun-no-do-yah, carried him down to the bottom of 
the lake. 

He-no was sleeping, when Gun-no-do-yah appeared 
to him in a dream and related his misfortune, that 
he had found the snake monster in the lake Onlarii) 
and that it had devoured him. 

The dream caused He-no great anguish, and lie 
determined to rescue Gun-n(^-do-yah ; so hastily sum- 
moning his bravest warriors and relating to them the 
fate that had overtaken him. he sent them lo 
earth to plough through the lake. Diligi-ntly the\- 
ploughed through the deep caves under the water. 
where they found the monster sleeping; aiitl drawing 
it froni its hiding place earrii-d it to He-no, who sU'w 
it and dn-w fr<.tn ii< \u„]v \]m- <\\\\ jiving Gun-no- 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 45 

do-yah. And .2;rcat was the rejoicing of the Thunderers and war- 
riors. 

Now, that Gun-no-do-yah had been saved, He-no would never 
permit him to revisit the earth, but that he might have him ever 
near him. made him one of his aids to accompany him during his 
storms and hurr)- the hghtning. 



Lake Ontario is noted for its violent winds, and when they 
drive the canoe high on the waves, the Indians know that the 
spirit of the snake is there " twisting the water " in its revenge 
and when the lightning darts quick across the sky, thev whispei 
in awe, " Gun-no-do-yah is chasing it! 

0-SE HA-DA-GAAR', THE DEW EAGLE 

He-no, the Thunderer. Ga-oh, SjMrit of the Winds. The I'ire Spirit, 
the I.i.steners, and FUnnie Bearers 

In the myth lore of the Iroquois, where ever^'thing animate oi 
inanimate is endowed with supernatural powers either evil or 
good, the myths relating to the sun, so fecund with life-giving 
power, have special significance. 

Although never wandering from his path across the sky, the 
Sun- controls his broad dominion through his assistants. Serving 
Spirits, whom he endows with various powers and sends down to 
Earth to fulfil his missions. 

To some is given the care of the fruits, others guard the grains, 
nothing is overlooked ; and these guarding spirits, ever watchful 
of their duties, faithfully serve the Sun. 

But there are others. Spirits of Evil, who roam the Earth, and 
defying the Sun, seek to overthrow its beneficent power. Among 
these is the Fire Spirit who, malevolently jealous of the Spirits of 
Good, may simimon Ids Flame Bearers and, descending to Earth, 
bum and destroy the harvests. 

At the coming of the Fire Spirit, mountains shrink down, the 
thirsting valleys suck dry the streams and springs. Night pales her 
stars, and all Earth faints. 



' Should be Os-ha-da-ge-a'. 

2 The Sun, according to a myth in the writer's collection, is the chief messenger of the 
Creator. It is his duty to observe all the activities of men and nature and report them to 
his superior. " He is the eye of the Creator," said Soson'dowa who related the tale. The 
sun is especially the patron spirit of war and lingers as he watches the conflict. Thus days 
of battle are longer. Each morning he emerges from under the sky dome (horizon) 
where its rim touches the far east sea. The east wind blows as he mounts the sky path, 
chough " maybe it is tha wind of the bowl when it is lifted." When Ende'ka Da'kwa 
descends on the west water, the bowl lifts again for the fraction of a moment and he shoots 
under and leaves the world to Night. The raising of the sky dome twice each day makes 
the tides of the ocean " but they don't come even now days " remarks the myth teller. 



46 



NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



In vain Ga-oh searches the heavens for his hiding winds. In 
vain He-no hunts his thunderbolts to hurl at the F ame Bearers, 
and all seems hopeless and lost. 

But to this desolation comes 0-se-ha-da-gaar, a great bird, 






^% '■=7 /ifir?Vw ^ 



rrf 



The Dew Eagle 



From a "Irawinn hy Jesse Cornplantcr, a Srncca boy artist 

whose l(jdge is far beyond the west sky, and who carries a lake of 
dew in the hollow of its back. 

0-se-ha-da-gaar is wise, and does not listen to every call. lie 
knftws his power and waits. He is faithfully guarded by a bantl of 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 47 

Listeners, great birds who fly far above the Sun and can see all 
that passes below. They hear every sound and know every voice 
in the heavens, and watch the soft winds which waft the summer 
clouds to gather the showers; and when the Fire Spirit suffocates 
the Earth, they speed to her voice, and bear it to 0-se-ha-da-gaar 
who waits in his lodge.' 

Then 0-se-ha-da-gaar hears; and pluming for flight, pushes the 
skies far apart, obscuring the Sun with his vast spreading wings 
as they dip to the east and the west fanning gentle breezes, and 
mist veils the skies as through his fluttering wings he sifts down 
from his lake the dews to refresh the famishing Earth. 

Then all nature revives, the Fire Spirit flees; the parching Earth 
bares her broad breast to the falling dews; her glad rivers and 
lakes rejoice, and her harvests rise to new life. 

At the Harvest Feast of the Iroquois, the Creator is thanked for 
having bestowed upon the people the guarding vigilance of He-no, 
and is implored not to withdraw from them his power, which con- 
trols the gentle rains in the seedtime and the dews in the ripening. 

GA-NYO DA AND SAIS-TAH-GO-WA, THE RAINBOW AND THE 

SERPENT 

Twins: Ilah-gvvch-di-yu, the Good Minded; Hah-gweli-da-et-gah, the 
Bad Minded. Ga-oh, Spirit of the Winds. He-no, the Thunderer 

In the creation of the earth, which the Turtle bears upon its 
back, the Sky Woman gave birth to the twins, Hah-gweh-di-yu, 
and Hah-gweh-da-et-gah ; and with their birth. Good and Evil 
came upon the Earth; for Hah-gweh-da-et-gah was bad minded, 
and between the brothers there w^as continual strife. Hah-gweh- 
di-yu, the Good Minded, was ever striving to create all things 
beautiful, which angered Hah-gweh-da-et-gah, who sought only to 
disfigure and destroy. 

Hah-gweh-di-yu created beautiful rivers, and planted high hills 
to guard their peaceful flow through the valleys, which enraged 
Hah-gweh-da-et-gah, who brought forth Sais-tah-go-wa, a sea 
monster, directing him to enter and destroy them. Sais-tah-go-wa, 

1 In some respects the Dew Eagle has its counterpart in the Thunder Bird of the Dakota^ 
and Algonquins. In the instances of the Dew Eagle and the Thunderer we have example^ 
of the complex character of the Iroquoian mythology. The Eagle (Thunder Bird) ha^ 
been stripped of the thunder power with which the other races endowed him. Hi 'no ha^ 
taken the thunder and rain-making office but the Eagle is made the dew maker and labor^ 
faithfully when Hi 'no fails to come. 

There is a legend that an enormous white eagle will come from the east ocean and battle 
with the Dew Eagle until he dies. Then will the Ongweh'owe no longer have woods and 
fields, but dry desert places where they will starve. The Indians' Dew Eagle has probably 
been dead for some time. 



4«^ Nl-U' Vi»KK STATK Ml'SF.UM 

accustomctl to tlie IrL-ciloni ot the broad seas, was furious when 
restricted l)y the banks of tlie streams, and viciously strove to 
rend them apart, writhinj^ his way throu<jh the waters and hurlini,' 
j^reat rocks upon them as they fled to the sea. 

HewaiHnj^ the loss of his rivers should they be engulfed in the 
deep seas and his hijjh lands and \alleys ])erish from thirst, Hali- 
jjweh-tli-yu hastened to their rescvie, whereupon, Sais-tah-j^tJ-wa, 
discoverini^ his ap])roach and dreadinj^ his power, souj^ht to make 
his escape, and bcin*,' unable to return tlir()u,i,di the ri\ers hv luul 
destroyed, tied to the sky. 

The Sun was peacefully trackini,' its trail across the heavens 
when Sais-tah-jjjo-wa appeared, and ujxm learning; what the monster 
ha«l done, detennined that it should ne\er return to the earth to 
injure the creations of Hah-gweh-di-yu, and throwing him across 
the sky, clasped him down to the east and the wi'si. 

It chanced at this time that He-no, the Tiumdercr, was passing 
on his way through a storm, and admiring the beautiful colors of 
Sais-tah-go-wa as he stretched across the sky. ])icked him uj), 
saying. " My Lightning Hunter needs this for his bow," and 
straightway carried him up to his lodge. 

Sais-tah-go-wa is restless in his capt \"ity, and when He-no is 
busy directing lis storms, endeavors to escape; but the ever watch- 
ful Sun detects him, and again l)cnding him across the sky, paints 
him with his brightest colors thai he may be discovered by He-no, 
wh(j quickly comes and carries him back to his lodge. 

In summer showers the red man sees Sais-tah-go-wa in the 
resplendent hues that arcli the sky, and as they fade away and the 
sun comes forth, he exclaims, " The rain is past I — Sais-tah-go-wa 
tried to escape, but He-no has taken him l)ack to h s lodge! 

SKA HAI WE, INDIAN SUMMER 

Ga-oh, Spirit of the Winds. Go-ho-ne, Winter. An-iia. Day. So-oh, 
Night. 0-);a-nyo-{la, the Rainlxjw. lie-no, the Thumlorer. Ga-o-no-uh, 
Canoe (new moon) 

When in the late autumn the Sun " walks crooked," he is on his 
way to the south sky where during the winter solstice he rests, 
leaving his " sleep spirit " on guard during his absence. 

Previous to his <le]iarture he smokes the ah-so-qua-ta (peace 
pipe) to veil the earth as he councils with the (ireat Mother. 

Sun talks to Earth 

Karth, Oreat Mother, holding your chililren close to your breast, 
hear my jjowerl Listen. 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AXD LEGENDS 49 

The davs of mv ,(,^lowin,i( arc passed. I glare and I burn and I 
scorch no more. I am hgliting my fire from you to kindle my 
ah-so-qua-ta, the pipe of my sleep. In the haze (jf my Indian 
summer I wrap you to silence while Ga-oh holds fast on your y)il- 
lowing hills the Hock of his jealous clouds. The smoke of my 
ah-so-qua-ta must not be driven back. 

Soon I will travel my crooked sky trail. I hurry. I have heard 
the swift blast of Go-ho-ne's voice, and am flocking the fearing 
clouds of the Ska-hai-we closer together as they feather the stem 
of my ah-so-qua-ta. 

See ! Ga-oh floats gentle winds to the smoke of my ah-so-qua-ta. 
The north, cast, south and west must smoke my peace pipe. I 
rule the sky! I summon An-da, and she w^atches my fields. 1 
call Se-oh and she sends forth her stars to guard my dark paths. 
When He-no, the Thunderer, pours down his rain, I warn as I paint 
my 0-ga-nyo-da to hang on the falling clouds, and He-no hushes 
his \-oice. When He-no is fierce and hurls his fire arrows across 
my path, I chase, and his arrows pale m my blaze. 

When Ga-oh walks on his freezing way, my watchers hide from 
his howling blasts which lurk in the north. When I dream in my 
south land, Go-ho-ne grows strong, but the feet of my sky herd 
are speedy and free as they race with the winds ; nor can the winds 
twist the horns of my stars with their fighting breath as they race, 
nor darken the track of my Moon with their mists; my Moon 
knows my power, and floats her ga-o-no-uh on my sky sea as her 
sign when she sets on her journey anew. 

Earth, Great Mother, listen and hear my power! 

Now your broad waters grow vigly and strong, roaming and 
fighting Ga-oh. Fear not. I look down into the dark where their 
monsters rage. I know the secrets of their deep places where 
Darkness is chained and will send it my light, as I go for a time 
to my sleep where gentler waters obc}' when my glow cradles on 
their waves. 

Ga-oh will strike down your battling seas. When they rise and 
fight, he will hurl back their quarreling mountains. Ga-oh is mighty 
and will unlock his tempests when He-no lets loose his Thunderers 
to lash down the seas. 

Great Mother, listen, I speak! Your stately mountains are 
watching my ah-so-qua-ta. Look at its smoke as Ga-oh craftily 
wafts it through shades where soft breezes creep in their hurried 
flight, for Ga-oh is whispering frosts in his wavering breath ! 

When I summon An-da, your mountains grow glad and red with 
my light as I crown them anew with plumes of my glow. Your 



50 Xi:\V YORK .^TATR M'SKLM 

mountains are proud, and puMi mi'iu^ii the cl<iut.ls to Avclconie me 
as I blaze the east and the west and tlie north and the south! 

Great M(ither, behold your valleys, the paths of your guarding 
hills I The smoke of my ah-so-qua-ta is searching them far where 
swift rivers run ami lakes hide down. As the winds warn, the 
trees bend low and loosen their leaves to soften the bed for the 
winter snow; and the leaves fall fast. Mother Earth, red with your 
blood in their dying breath, and goUl with my parting touch! 

The trails of your valleys reach vast and long where your great 
rivers meet, and your willing breast flows and nurses its young. 
Great Mother, hug close your valleys while yet the smoke of my 
ah-so-qua-ta shields! Your deep-dwelling lakes are pale shadowed 
and dim in the hiding haze of my ah-so-qua-ta as it loses its way 
in their chasing waves; and over your face the mist fal's low as 
Go-ho-ne is capturing my glow for his icy veil that will cover you 
down from my peering sky. 

Great Mother, listen! The smoke of my ah-so-qua-ta drifts, 
my sleep spirit waits for its winter dream, and I speed as I go to 
the land of my rest. I hear the voice of Go-ho-ne, it is hindering 
and slow as it weaves your blanket of feathery snows. Shrink 
you strong from the stealing cold that cliills your breast where 
your streams have fed. 

Your veins will grow little and race no more, and your heart will 
hush slow when you turn from my gaze to the dark where your 
echoes hide. Their voices are stilled, they search no more for my 
Summer Day. Her feet are fastened with Ga-oh's thongs that bind 
her from the torturing winds. Ga-oh is kind. 

Your mountains will wake when I come again, your mountains 
will wake, your rivers run fast, and lakes cradle low. Go-ho-ne 
will flee, I will burn his thongs. Your heart will hear my calling 
voice. Your seeds will climb to my waiting glow, and your breast 
flow swift to nourish your young. 

Great Mother, listen! I am A-deka-ga-gwaa, the Sun! I rule 
the skies! I govern An-da. I chase Go-ho-ne. I frighten the 
shriek of the Thunderer's voice when he furrows my paths with 
his storms; but when I touch the wings of his flying clouds, they 
fold the rains fast and sift dews to your thirsting vales. I scorch 
and I burn, and I kill! I turn my face, and the tempests come. 
When I sleep in my South, Go-ho-ne is bold, when I open my eyes, 
Go-hrj-ne flies, and Ile-no grows frightened and still! 

I am A-deka-ga-gwaa! I reign, and I rule all your lives! My 
field is broad where swift clouds race, and chase, and climl), and 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 5 1 

curl, and fall in rains to your rivers and streams. My shield is 
vast, and covers your land with its yellow shine, or burns it brown 
with my hurrying flame. My eyes are wide, and search every- 
where. My arrows are quick when I dip them in dews that nourish 
and breathe. My army is strong, when I sleep it watches my 
fields. When I come again my warriors will battle throughout 
the skies; Ga-oh will lock his fierce winds; He-no will soften his 
voice; Go-ho-ne will fly, and tempests will war no more! 

As I sleep down to my dreams, the paths of my sky land slant 
crooked and small; the breath of my ah-so-qua-ta grows slow, 
its panting fire dies black, its ashes are pale, the trails grow dark, 
and my sleep spirit watches near! 

DEH-OH-NIOT', THE EVIL SOUL GATHERER 

Sky color is the Deh-oh-niot, who hatmts the tall tree tops and 
the high mountain crests. 

With the face of a wolf, the wings of a vulture, the body of a 
panther and claws like a hawk, the Deh-oh-niot wanders in the 
" pathway of spirits,"- and is one of the emissaries Death^ sends to 
the earth to gather souls. 

The sick fear him, the dying hear him clawing at the door, 
where he whines like a cat if the spirit is departing, or barks like 
a wolf if it is not ready to travel. 

Although Deh-oh-niot watches for his victims, and knows the 
death path which leads from every lodge door, there are other 
Invisibles, guardians of the departing soul, who guide it to its 
further condition where it may assume whatever form it is to 
inhabit before reaching its final rest place in the Happy Hunting 
Ground. 

When watching the lodge of the dying, there is a continual 
struggle between Deh-oh-niot and these Invisibles. 

By the law of Death, before whom all departing spirits must 
pass on their journey, Deh-oh-niot can seize only the evil of a 



' This is a variation from the writer's version of the myth which makes Ga-sho-dee'to, not 
De'-on-iot, the Soul Gatherer. Rather is he the herald of disaster. An extract from my 
manuscript notes may be of service in giving an idea of the myth. " And did no warning 
sign appear ? " asked Ohoosta. " Yes, but wc did not know it was an omen until too late. 
Then we remembered a blue (sky colored) panther floating high over the trees. He had 
no face but from his tail shot flames of fire." (A comet). " So now then you will remember 
to offer (throw) tobacco upon a fire," said Ohoosta. " Tobacco incense is a sign that death 
and trouble are not wanted and when he has breathed it Ga-sho-dee'to will go away and 
turn aside the danger." 

2 The milk way 

' Son-do-wek'-o-wa is the angel of death. 



5^ 



m:\\ \(>kk >i.\ri-: .Mr>i;r.M 



spirit which enters his domain, and even then it may escape him 
if, in its earth existence, jjood has predominated. Vet, should 
Deh-i»h-niot be able to capture but a small portion of a soul, he mav 
convey it to Death, and be rewarded for his service 

If the evil of a spirit had been oveqiowerin}^ while it tlwelt on the 
earth, and but a fraj^ment of ^ood remained with it, even then it 
mijjht be stronj^ enough to escape while Deh-oh-niot, with his 
pantherlike tail lashinjj wide and trailing; lire in his ])ath. is carrying 
it across the skies. 

If. in a tierce stniggle, the spirit should gain its freedom. Deh- 
oh-niot will have revenge by transforming it into a " tire stone," 
and throwing it down to the earth where it may be eternally im- 
prisoned 

Were Deh-oii-niot an}- other than sky color, there migln be 
escape from his power; but he can sit on a tree where its top blends 
with the sky, and there no one can see him. When he rests on a 
mountain crag, he outlines its higli reacliing. as if the sky were 
" bunching down " in repose. 

His death cry may lie mistaken for the mewing (tf the house 
cat. or the bark of a dog at the door, for only the dying can dis- 
tinguish between the voices. Therefore. Deh-oh-niot is the dread of 
each lodge, where he may at any time enter when Death sends him 
to gather souls. 

To hear the voice of Deh-oh-niot is an evil omen, and some dire 
calamity will follow those who lia\X' listened to it. If Deli-oh-niot 
ai)pears to a person who is not ill, his death will soon follow. 

While Deh-oh-niot is j^ossessed of the ferocity of the wolf, tlic 
stealthiness of the panther, the rapaciousness of the vultiu-e and 
the claw weapons of the hawk; all these are necessary in his task of 
gathering evil spirits for Death. 

When a " fire stone " (meteor) flames through the sky. " Deh- 
oh-niot is gathering souls" ; and should it fall to the earth, " Deh- 
oh-niot has jnisheil a soul from its trail." 

When a comet appears in the lieavens, Deh-oh-niot is spreading 
his tail. 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 53 

OD JE-SO-DAH AND JI-HEN YAH, THE DANCING STARS AND THE 

SKY WITCHES 

An Indian hunter was teachint^ his eleven sons' the secrets of the 
forest, and had led them into its innermost density where game 
strode unafraid in its stillness. He had taught them the hunter's 
step, which must fall light as the leaf that drops from its branch, 
and had shown them the haunts and the foot signs of all the animals, 
and on the morrow would find for them the deep pools where the 
fish shoaled in secret or hid from the sunshine; and as night had 
shadowed the forest in its darkness, the hunter and his sons lay 
down to rest. 

As they slept, soft singing \-oices floated through the still trees, 
nearer and nearer approaching till they awakened Hai-no-nis, 
the eldest of the eleven brothers. Charmed by the weird chanting, 
he aroused his brothers to listen to the sorccrous song, and they 
followed as it led through bewildering paths to a large tree where 
under its branches a great circle widened its moon shadows. For a 
time the voices ceased, but as the brothers waited, the song was 
resumed in a quicker strain that tuned them to swift dancing till 
in the frenzv of its measure, they could not cease. They implored 
the Night Wind to guide them back to their father, but it passed 
heedlesslv bv, and the voices led the brothers still further as, 
delirious with motion, they danced onward and upward till they 
had left the earth far beneath in their skyward flight. 

Day after day the brothers danced, and day after day the troubled 
Sun glanced after them but could not reach them. Night after 
night the stars grew dizzy as the dancers swirled round the sky, 
when Hai-no-nis disappeared and the song-voices fainted far away. 

Yet the dancers could not rest, and the pitying Moon, thinking to 
quiet them, left her path and led them to her procession of stars 
which was marching across the night sky. But their ceaseless 
dancing set the stars whirling till the Moon, frightened at the con- 
fusion, transformed them to a group of fixed stars and assigned 

' Another version states that the dancing party consisted of eleven young men and boys, 
the oldest of which was chosen the chief. They were training for battles which the future 
should bring and requested the parents to furnish them food to eat during their period of 
training. The request was refused several times. The chief kept up their spirits by singing 
and beating the water drum whose ringing rhythm charmed their feet to the war dance. 
Their spirits were high when they finished their dance and they again implored their several 
parents for food. The chief was angry when it was refused, and grasping the wet drum 
again said : " We will dance ourselves away from earth and leave it forever." He sang the 
Ji'-ha-ya (the witch) song and roused the dancers to high enthusiasm, bade them dance 
and look upward and listen to no plea that might be wailed up through the trees. Thus 
they danced up to the sky, all unheeding of the cries of terror and distress from below, save 
one who looked down and fell. 



54 NEW YORK STATF. MUSEUM 

them the charge of the New Year of the red man, commanding that 
forevermore they must dance over the council house during the ten 
days of his New Year's feast. 

'^iWhen Hai-no-nis left his brothers he followed the voices, and 
discovering them to be the Ji-hen-yah (Sky Witches), promised 
that if they would not furtlier torment his brothers, they shovild 
dance forever in their honor. 

And so the brothers ' continue to dance, ever obe\ing the Moon, 
wliich sometimes sends them to return wandering stars that may 
have lost their way in the darkness. 

These Sky Witches frequently descend to the earth in tlie dark- 
ness in search of victims for their sky feasts which they are ever 
celebrating. 



In the astronomical lore of the paleface, this celestial group of 
dancing brothers is known as the Pleiades, the brilliant constella- 
tion in the neck of Taurus. The feast of the New Year, as with all 
others of the Iroquois, is regulated by the Moon. 

0-SO-AH, THE TALL PINE, SPEAKS 

The spirit of tlic pine - was once a brave war chief who led his 
warriors to victory till captured by his enemies and Inirned at 
the stake. 

In the metempsychosis of the Iroquois, the liberated spirit 
of the chief entered the pine, where it will remain forever the 
forest guide of the Indian people. It is a fact that tlic two topmost 
branches of the pine point to the east and the west, thus furnisliing 
a compass for the red man when lost in the woods. These branches 
also symbolize the " deer horns," the insignia that ranks a chief. 



' Only seven of the brothers are now commonly visible bcc.iuse some arc very small and 
dance behind the rest. On very clear nixhts those with good eyes can sec the others. 

'The myth setting forth the origin of the pine is a part of the Pleiades (Dancing Stars) 
myth, though of a version a little different in some p:irts from the one recorded by Mrs 
Converse. The legend relates that the chief of the skyward dancing party hearing the cries 
of his mother looked down. Mis act was a fatal one for he immediately fell like a stone 
into soft clay, for when he struck the earth he entered it and disappeared. The mother 
mourned and watched over his grave spot for a year and when springtime came again she 
»aw a tiny green shoot springing above the sod. When the years passed by, it became a 
lofty evergreen tree and the people called it 0'-so'-:\ (gC-i). It was the first of its kind ami 
the soul and blood and body of the chief were in it. This the people knew for they heard 
it sighing and moaning to its mates in the heavens at night. A thoughtless warrior slashed 
its bark with his knife and red blood poured out, and it was human blooil. "After many 
ycani," says the story-teller. " the feathers that dropped from the wide branches sjirang 
up into the pine trees and these have thick sticky blood, but it is good for many things, 
canoes, ropes and medicines. So it's a good thing he looked down." 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 55 

And the Tall Pine said: " Once I walked the earth a warrior 
chief, and in my quiver was death. My arrows cried shrill and strong 
on their journeys to kill. They were feathered for blood. They 
were plunged with the poison that slays. They were winged to the 
winds that found the way in their swift death flight, and they 
never came back to me ! 

I was strong and bold, and hated my foe. I was stealthy, and 
haughty, and strode like the stag on my path. To my listening car 
the death moan was soft as the call of the doe. 

When I hunted my foe my footfall was still as the feather that 
drops from the flying bird, and the earth knew no sign of the 
moccasin track. 

Like a wolf J scented the blood of my foe and his heart that 
dripped sweet as the sunrise dew, and I followed him swift in my 
hungry hunt. 

No coward was I to skulk in my path. I counted my deaths as 
the great eagle numbers his feathers to the morning sun. My 
heart grew bigger with hate in its thirst for blood w^hen my brave 
warriors followed wherever I led, winding in trails as the gliding 
snake bends, or straight as the way to the sky. 

I was vengeful and fleet, when captured for death, and walked 
through the dead my arrows had left and scorned their weak 
stillness and cowardly sleep. 

I knew no pain of the torture brand, I sang to its flame my fore- 
father's song as I welcomed the fire and red death with scorn, and 
the sun glared glad as it looked down on me. 

I knew no bruise as the blood ran down to the waiting earth, 
I knew no sting when my quivering flesh curled in the blaze and 
the thongs shrunk deep to my blackening bones, for my spirit was 
strong and dared my doom that the foe had said. 

My spirit was strong, and could not die. It led m}' blood on 
its wasting way and nourished its flow" as my veins throbbed fast 
for the seeding roots of my branches that boast. 

My spirit was strong and guided each branch to the sun and 
winds as it lifted my tower higher and higher, and knotted my 
tents where wandering snows and the flying light of the summer 
sun halts and hides. 

And my spirit said when it builded me: ' I will make you tall, 
and forever the tower and guide of your forest kin. On your top- 
most reach I will hang the horns that as warrior you wore, and I 
will set them high. When the sun sleeps and clouds blanket low, 
the kin of your forest will know where the east trail winds and the 
west trail guides.' 



5^» Ni:\\ YORK STATK Ml'J^KlM 

And my spirit said as il buikled me: ' Vou were fearless and 
brave in your warrior life, and I will spread your arms broad 
against foes. Vour swift runninj^ blood will never pale and creep 
to your feet. Grow strong, and tall as the forest gui<le. (irow 
strong, and high — the sky is nttt far ' ' " 

And the Speaking Pine said: "My spirit lias builded. and I 
watch the sky. When strong temjjests battle. I war with their 
rage as. in their moaning, voices return from mv df.id. ;ind. as of 
oUl. I toss them back to the killing winds. 

When the soughing breeze ])asses my stntng walchtower. a life 
stirs in me that is gentle and kind as the mcjthcr bird brooding her 
young, and I open my arms wide to the singing wind tliat tunes 
me to dreams. 

Thus forever I watch as my iiorns lift to the touch of the morning 
sun and flush to its west tire glow. 

I am the Pine! the guide of my forest kin! I rock the sunlights 
to drowse in my arms as the winds waft my fragance afar. In my 
silence the night shadows dream of the <lay as I tower strong and 
high and reach to the sky!' " 



GA-DO WAAS, HIS STAR BELT, THE MILKY WAY 

Ga-do-wSfis dwells in llie top sky. and with his four eyes watches 
every corner of the earth. 

At one time, Ga-do-wflas was an earth dweller and a hunter, 
but because of his presuming to celestial power and destroying all 
the game, he was transferred to the heavens, and watches the gate 
through which each soul passes to immortality. 

When Ga-do-wASs assumed his duty as soul watcher, he remo\-ed 
his hunting belt, which possessed the charm of enticing game, and 
decorating it with stars, cast it into space, where it sj)ans the entire 
heavens and illuminates each path' to which he guides a soul. 

So luminous is this path that its blended light reaches down to 
the earth and divides its rays, stationing one at each lodge where 
a human is dying, that the departing soul may not lose its way as 
it leaves the dead. 

Xo human has seen these rays, they arc \isible only to the soul. 
The sciuth wind accompanies the S(ju1 till it reaches the gate where 
Ga-do-wiias watches, and as it passes the portal of this journey 

I The reliffiout philoiophy of the Iroquois teaches that each soul has its individual path 
levlinK from the soul house, the body, to the xrcat sky road, the Milky Way. The good 
•ky path is called GA-o-ytt"-<l6 hc-io-o'-dio" ami the evil soul's road. o-a'-t(w£nt. 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 57 

place, he reaches into space and grasps a star which he fastens in 
the belt, thereby to guide the soul on its journey. 

When the soul has crossed the entire heavens, Ga-do-waas re- 
moves the star from his belt, and returns it to its appointed place 
in space. 

Though each soul may pass through various transmigrations 
before it departs from its lower existence, it can not enter the 
Happy Hunting Ground' till it has crossed the star belt of Ga-do- 
wcias, therefore, the Milky Way,- to the Indian, is a jjrocession of 
stars, each guiding a soul. If there is a confusion in this proces- 
sion, it is because some soul is disturbed and out of the path ; but 
the star, which never loses its way, Avill searcli for it and return it 
to its course. 

NYA-GWA-IH, THE CELESTIAL BEAR 

The Iroquois had been disturbed by the ravages of an enormous 
bear which was devouring their winter game. 

Numbers of the hunters liad banded together and plodded 
through all the forests in search of it, but to no avail. At times it 
would near for a moment but to distance their arrows in a most 
m3'sterious way, and the blinding snow would fall fast and thick 
as if to cover its track. 

In the darkness it frequently prowled near the villages, when 
the terrified people would hide from its roaring voice, and a deep 
snowfall always followed these visitations; and baffling all their 
plans for its death, the nya-gwa-ih continued his ravage of plunder. 

The winter was fierce in its cold blasts, and the snows had drifted 
mountains high in the forest ; the trails were lost ; the deer were 
vanishing, and their haunts were strewn with their bones which 
the nya-gwa-ih had left behind him, when one night each of three 
brothers^ dreamed he had found the bear, and deeply impressed by 
the remarkable coincidence on the following morning they silently 
left the village and started on their secret hunt, accompanied by 
their faithful dog, Ji-yeh, whose keen nose ridged the snow down to 
the trail. 

' The term Happy Hunting Ground is not strictly Iroquoian. The modern believers in 
the Gaiwiu term their heaven, " the Land of the Creator." It is described, however, as a 
place where Indians will enjoy again the things which a red man most loves. Should be 
" Place of the Maker.' Sometimes the world of spirits is called ga-o-ya"-ge, Sky Place. 

2 Handsome Lake described very vividly in the Gaiwiu his experience on the road of 
souls, the Milky Way, and said that most of the tracks that he saw in the road were those 
of children. Going further and looking at the downward fork he saw the footprints of 
adults only. The Milky Way is called dja-swen'-do'. 

'The three brothers were named as follows: the oldest Tug-a-wa-ne'; the next younger, 
Ha-da-wa'-sa-no or Ho-we-ta-ho' and the youngest, Hos'-to'. The youngest was a quiet, 
bashful fellow, the next older given to much speaking while the oldest was a great braggart. 



58 N'liW YORK STATK MUSEUM 

In their pursuinpj one day they saw the bear. It had pushed 
under a snow bank, and was ravenously devouring a deer. So 
certain were they of its capture, that they cut down a small pine 
and made ready the fire for cooking it, but when they resumed 
tlieir hunt, the bear had vanished, and there was no trail of it in 
the swift falling snow which had covered its track; and chagrined 
that they had been so near and had failed, they decided not to 
stop again till they had captured it. 

Having thus determined, they bundled the fire brush on the 
shoulders of one of the brothers,* and to their belts tied their strong 
bags of o-na-oh,- the roasted corn flour which would sustain them 
whi e they were running, and again set out on the chase. 

At night they slept not; during the day they rested not; for the 
elusive shadow of the rapid running bear could be seen on the 
snow hills as they ran to the north sky. 

As if avenging, the freezing winds pursued them, the ice weighted 
down their moccasins, and the pitiless snows drifted near to the 
skies; but impelled by their dream, the intrepid hunters faltered 
not until they had reached the end of the flat earth where it edges 
close to the north sky. Then the shadow of the bear disappeared, 
and the distant paths seemed enveloped in a vaporous mist like a 
hiding cloud that floats over the water. 

Yet the tireless hunters would not rest, but climbed higher and 
higher and farther away from the earth, when again they saw the 
bear, who was now slow in its path, yet mighty as it pushed the 
white clouds before it, weaving an invisible net which it cast over 
the skies and crawled under to rest.^ 

Astray in the strange place, the untiring hunters, who knew not 
fatigue nor hunger, rejoiced when they came near the bear to find 
him sleeping. " We will not lose it now,' and will carry it back to 
our people," was their victorious cry. 

' Hos'-to'. the youngest, bore the fagots and Ho-w6-ta-ho'. the next older, carried the kettle 
in which to cook the bear. 

' O-na'-o' means com. The parched com cake is called o-nl'-so'-kwa by the Senecas 
and o-n'i-gwltz-ora by the Mohawks. It was made by roasting dry shelled com on a flat 
stone and afterward beating it to a meal in a mortar. The flour was mi.xed with maple 
sugar, wet, pressed into cakes and dried. Dried chokecherrics were sometimes pulverized 
and added. This food must be eaten sparingly and with plenty of water to prevent cramps. 

• The net in my version is a cave and is the constellation of Corona borealis. 

* The older brother is the actual hunter, his ne.xt younger brother carries the kettle in 
which to cook the bear while the youngest bears the fagots for the fire. The boastful older 
brother fell behind in the chase anci the youngest passing by his next older brother hurried 
on and killed the bear with his chunks of fire wood. The blood dripped down and turned 
the maple leaves red while the fat, melted to oil in the heat of the chase, dripped down and 
turned others yellow. The bear miraculously revives before the Are is kindled and the 
pursuit goes on again. 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 59 

The listening l)car slowly opened its sleepy eyes, and rising in 
its giant hight, lifted the net with its huge paws and, dragging the 
hunters under it, drove them far away to roam the broad skies 
forever! And the hunters and their faithful dog, Ji-yeh, unknow- 
ing their imprisonment under the invisible net, are ceaselessly 
following the snow bear, who ever eludes them.' 



In Ursa Major,- the Iroquois find these three hunters, one with 
the brush upon his back, and close following they trace the faithful 
dog, Ji-yeh. 

1 The stars outlining the bowl of the " dipper " represent the bear and the handle stars 
are the hunters. 

-The myth of the celestial bear chase is one of the most widely distributed in America. 
That the Ursa Major of the white man's astronomical lore should be the same thing in the 
Indian's seems remarkable at first, and yet, when the elements which suggested the com- 
ponent ideas of the myth are examined it will be found that to human minds in the same 
cultural stage, though separated by space and time, the same factors suggest the same 
ideas or combination of ideas. That the idea of things should be similar, therefore, does 
not seem so strange. 

The story of the bear constellation as related by the Indians is Precolumbian without 
a shadow of doubt. The earliest explorers and missionaries heard the myth from the Point 
Barrow Eskimos and from the Zuni Pueblo dwellers of Arizona, from the Sioux of the 
Dakotas. from the Micmacs of Nova Scotia, and from the Siwash tribes of California. Still 
it may be objected that the myth was of recent introduction, but if it were, its details would 
not have presented so much of a variation but rather have conformed to the myth supposed 
to have been derived from European sources. 

The suggesting factors which gave origin to the idea of the bear as associated with the 
constellation deserve some consideration here. The North American Indians, in common 
with other primitive people, were deeply impressed with all the phenomena of nature and 
curious regarding their cause. Any similarity between the known and the unknown was 
noted and where several real or symbolical similarities were observed, the unknown was 
compared to, symbolized by and named from the known. Real or pretended similarities 
were adduced both from actual knowledge and experience and from preexisting myths. 
The primitive mind drew no dividing line between the real and unreal, between ideas derived 
from objective and subjective sources. One supplemented the other in his store of data. 
Each element formed material for his premises and he regarded his conclusions sound. 
A myth once evolved was the precedent upon which other and more elaborate myths of 
other things might be built. If we knew what the primordial myth of any people was we 
might be able to trace step by step the history and evolution of myths. But then we should 
also be compelled to ask what ideas suggested that myth and at length we should be reduced 
to an analytical study of the evolution of ideas. We can not do this in a footnote and, 
therefore, we can not clear every question which may arise regarding a myth. 

The bear constellation is one of the most prominent in the heavens and must have early 
attracted the attention of leaders who probably thought somewhat as follows: 

The four stars (which compose the "dipper" bowl) suggest the four tracks or feat of an 
animal. What animal ?.. . The den (Corona boreaZi's) suggests a cave in the rocks. What 
mysterious animal is it that never dies (disappears), and though it may turn on its back 
(become inverted like the constellation in late autumn and winter) to sleep, yet return g 
living again? And who are the stars, the seven stars that follow the beast, four to bscome 
lost and three ever in sight? Surely some magical animal this is, it must be a bear (re- 
garded by the Indians as a most wise and mysteriously magical animal). Its den is like 
a bear's den. It never dies, no, a bear never does (from natural causes, the Indian 
thinks). Yes, it is a bear. The seven stars are the pursuers, the three always visible are 



6o NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 

0-JE A NEH-DOH, THE SKY ELK 
So-son-do-wah, the Hunter. Ga-ji-son-da, the Star Woman 

He was a mighty hunter, the So-son-do-wah ! ' The sun glanced 
at the forest as it beamed upon the earth with its mcjrning hght, the 
forest where 0-je-a-neh-doh,- the Sky Elk, stood silent as a shadow 
as his broad antlers brushed back the branches of an oak. Ne-o-ga 
was bewildered, the dazzling sunbeams confused him. He had 
wandered far in the earth forest all the night. 0-je-a-neh-doh 
knew not the sun. the sun does not shine on the elk fields of the 
sky, so far above it. whence 0-je-a-neh-doh had lingered too long 
to return. 

So-son-do-wah, who knew every deer track in the forest and 
had watched through the night with the pride of a hunter, looked 
upon 0-je-a-neh-doh with awe. In all the forests he had never 
seen such an elk, but in the honor of his hunter heart and by the 
law of his religion, he must give all game a chance for its life. 
His bent bow was waiting, his aim was sure, and his unerring 
arrow ready for flight when, as a warning, So-son-do-wah shook a 
small sapling and it wliirred like a partridge taking its flight. 

Alert, 0-je-a-neh-doli hfted his head as he snuffed the air and, 
with a bound, sped through the tangled ways of the hazy shades 
as So-son-do-wah sent his swift arrows after him. 

Up the rise and down the low places, across streams, now speed- 
ing in circles, then bounding over the hollows, 0-je-a-neh-doh 
raced and So-son-do-wah followed, near enough to see his arrows 
strike only to fall blunt to the ground. 

Hour after hour the 0-je-a-neli-doh ran on, liour after hour 
So-son-do-wah followed. 

The noon sent its sun rays straight down to tlic bushlands; in 
his mocking flight 0-je-a-neh-doh sped on and So-son-do-wah 
followed. Sunset shaded the forest; yet, like a wild winged thing 
0-je-a-neh-doh silently fled as So-son-do-wah followed. Night 

the hunters. Do they slay him? Yes, for he turns over. Now. why do leaves turn red 
and yellow when he turns over? Because his blood and oil spill down. Then how does 
he come to life again? Ah. his spirit hides in the cave, enters a new body and starts 
out again in the spring. So this is the reason for that group of lights. I have discovered 
what they arc. 

A very sliK'ht suRRestion may start and give direction to a train of thouRht that results 
the same in independent minds. Thus undoubtedly the bear constellation myth had its 
origin. The reader who is interested in the bear myth is directed to Salisbury Ilagar's 
masterful essay in the Journal of Amtncan Folk Lori, volume 13, page 9a. 

' So-5on'-do-wih means Great Night. 

• The name is usually written Jo-na6n-d4'. 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 6l 

darkened the wood paths, and the speeding 0-je-a-neh-doh seemed 
one of its shadows; still the light footed So-son-do-wah followed. 
The new risen moon looked down and the stars faltered forth in 
the red west trail of the sun, when 0-je-a-neh-doh quickened his 
race and leaped up the white headed hills of the sky; but So-son-do- 
wah, still following, caught on the wing of a swift bird of the night, 
which hastened its flight and soared to the farthermost part of the 
sky where the sun wakes up for the earth; yet 0-je-a-neh-doh, 
the Sky Elk, more fleet in his own free fields, ever eluded the dumb 
arrows which sighed from So-son-do-wah 's bow, until day feathered 
the sky with its plumes of red light, when the night bird shook 
So-son-do-wah from its wings back to the earth. But Dawn, 
pitying the sky stranger, rescued him as he was falhng, and 
carrying him to her lodge in the east sky, created him her sentinel 
to guard its door. 

One other duty which she assigned him was to watch from the 
sky hights the earth forest, the forest where the sky night hunters 
follow the game. And these hunters often escorted So-son-do-wah 
back to the earth, to guide them in their paths. 

In his travels the heart of So-son-do-wah yearned back to the 
earth, and he would have fled from the hunters but he could not 
escape. Once when Day had already hinted her coming, So-son- 
do-wah saw a beautiful maiden standing by a low river where she 
had gone in search of water. Swift as an arrow of light a tender- 
ness quivered within his heart and, forgetting his sky life, he 
gently approached her, but the wary hunters drew him back to 
the lodge of Dawn. There the heart of So-son-do-wah moaned in 
its vigils. He could not forget the river maiden, and frequenlty 
saw her face in the river mists that rose to the sky. 

Although a celestial prisoner and a watcher of the night. Dawn 
had endowed him with dominion to enter within some other life 
during the day when he could revisit the earth, and one spring 
morning, So-son-do-wah, who in his love for the maiden had deter- 
mined to find her, entered the heart of a bluebird which had dipped 
its wings in the azure hues of the southern sky. 

With the bird, So-son-do-wah followed the course of the river, 
singing " ji-nya-ah, ji-nya-ah, ji-nya-ah," and the forests echoed 
" ji-nya-ah, ji-nya-ah, ji-nya-ah " until the maiden, who was 
standing by the river, heard the plaintive song. 

" It is the bluebird," said she, " spring is here! " and in a glad 
voice she too called " ji-nya-ah, ji-nya-ah, ji-nya-ah " and the 
bluebird came at her call and sat on her shoulder and nestled its 



62 NKU YORK STATE ML'SF.IM 

head against her face as she caressed it. Umler the wing of the 
bird the heart of Su-son-do-wah throbbed quick with h)ve, but the 
sun was near and he must return to the sky. \'ot as tlie bird dis- 
apjieared, the mournful cry '" ji-nya-ah. ji-nya-ah, ji-nya-ah " 
wafted back to tlie earth. 

Again in midsummer, So-son-do-wah, grown restless, borrowed 
the bodv of a l>lackbird and before dawn Hew througli the wood- 
lands whistling " ga-go-ji, ga-go-ji." On the ash, elm, oak and 
pine he rocked in the branches, whistling ga-go-ji, ga-go-ji. and he 
swung on the vines that climb through the forest, whistling ga-go- 
ji, ga-go-ji until a faint echo answered far down the riverside. 

There flew the blackbird, there stood the maiden, who whispered 
"ga-go-ji. ga-go-ji. the blackbird is here! fruits are ripening and 
the maize grows close to the sun." And she held out her hand 
coaxing the bird down from the tree, and the sun-red hue of liis 
shoulder fringe flushed his night-black wings as lie flew to her call. 

" Ga-go-ji." she crooned as she stroked his soft wings. " I love 
vou. (ia-go-ji. you luring the sun to the berries. The maize knows 
your voice as you lift from its fields." And close to lier lips Ga-go-ji 
lifted his beak. 

" It is I I " So-son-do-wali plaintively sighed from the heart of the 
binl. but the maiden heard not, and Ga-go-ji flew back to a forest 
tree where shadows were hiding. 

In the autumn wlien the trees shed their leaves and tlie fur of the 
elk grows long. So-son-do-wah crept into the heart of a giant niglit 
hawk who was searching the rivers for prey. Through the mists 
of the night all over the land, lie called " gwa-diis. gwa-diis." but 
the still air held the echoless cry. Down by the river far and far, 
in piteous moans he called " gwa-diis. gwa-diis " till near the sun- 
rise, when he found the Ijeautiful maiden sleeping on the bank. 

" She is here! " whispered So-son-do-wah from the heart of the 
hawk as it swooped down and, lifting her to its broad wings, bore 
her to the skies, and all the rivers heard the joyful cry of "gwa-diis, 
gwa-diis" as it wafted down with the dews. 

When the maiden awoke. Dawn, who was standing by the door 
of her lodge, reproved So-son-do-wah for remaining so long on the 
earth, and transformed the maiden into a star. As punishment to 
So-son-do-wah for deserting his watch of her door, she invoked 
the aid of her warrior attendants who seized him and bound his 
arms. On his forehead they placed the new star, and in her hand 
a flaming torch, and should he attempt to release himself, the 
torch will consume him. 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 63 

And thus he remains So-son-do-wah, the human hunter, who 
yet yearns for the star which has never known him. 

After the disappearance of So-son-do-wah, j^ame muUiphcd in 
the forests and the deer stalked unafraid. The Sky Elk, who 
roams restlessly in the celestial hunting grounds, frequently visits 
the earth but returns before sunlight. 



The Iroquois relate that the Sun lights his council fire b}- the 
torch of the Star Woman before he appears above the horizon. 

Tliis Star Woman of the Iroquois, who precedes the sun in the 
east sky, is the morning star' of the paleface. 

0-NA-TAH AND THE GA GAAH, SPIRIT OF THE CORN, AND THE 

CROW 

[Fali-gwih-di yu, tlie Good ■\Iindcd. Hah-gvvcli-da-et-gah, the Bad 
Minded. Ga-oh, Spirit of the Winds 

Ga-gaah, the Crow- 

Among the birds which came from the sun land, Ga-gaah carried 
in his ear a grain of corn which Hah-gweh-di-yu planted above the 
body of his Mother (the earth), and it became the first grain, the 
"life" of the red man. By this birthright, Ga-gaah, claiming his 
share, hovers above the fields, guarding the young roots from the 
foes which infest them. 

0-na-tah, Spirit of the Corn 

0-na-tah, Spirit of the Corn, and patroness of the fields, brings 
the planting season to the earth. 

0-na-tah, chaste in her virgin beauty — the sun touches her dusk}^ 
face with the blush of the morning, and her eyes grow soft as the 
gleam of the stars that floats on dark streams. Her night-black 
hair flares to the breeze like the wind-driven cloud that unveils the 
sun. As she walks the air draped in her maize, its blossoms plume 
to the sun, and its fringing tassels play with the rustling leaves in 
whispering promises to the waiting fields. Night follows her dim 
way with the dews, and Day guides the beams that leap from the 
sun to her path. And the great Mother (earth) loves 0-na-tah 
who brings to her children, the red men, their life-giving^ grain. 



1 The Iroquois call the morning star, Gen-den'-wit-hS, It Brings the Day. 

' The crow and raven are among the most magical of all the " medicine " creatures. 
The Iroquois believed that the crows possessed great intelligence and sagacity since they 
" hold councils and have chiefs." The spirits of the crow and the raven figure prominently 
in the rituals of the Little Waters Society and the Ih'-dos Company. 

' The three vegetables, the corn, beans and squash were known to the Onondagas as 
tu-ne-ha-kwe meaning " these we live on," and to the Senecas as Dio-he'-ko, meaning " our 



64 N'E\V YORK STATI-: MUSEUM 

At one time. 0-na-tah liad two companions, the spirits of the 
bean and the squash. In the olden time, when the bean, corn and 
squash were planted in one hill, these three sister plant spirits, the 
De-o-ha-ko were never separated. Each was clothed in the plant 
which she guarded. The Spirit of the Squash was crowned with 
the flaunting gold tnunpet blossoms of its foliage, and the Spirit of 
tlie Bean was arrayed in the clinging leaves of its winding vine, its 
velvety pods swinging to the summer breeze. 

One day when 0-na-tah had wandered astray in search of the 
lost dews, Hah-gweh-da-et-gah, capturing her, sent one of his 
monsters to blight her fields, and the Spirits of the Squash and the 
Bean fled before the death winds which pursued them. 

Hah-gweh-da-c't-gah imprisoned 0-na-tah in his darkness under 
the earth, where she languished, lamenting her lost fields; when a 
searching sun ray discovered her and guided her back to her lands. 

Bewailing the desolation of the blight, and mourning the deser- 
tion of her sister spirits of the bean and the squash, 0-na-tah made 
a vow to the Sun that she would never leave her fields again; and 
now she holds her vigils alone, separated from her sister plants. 

If her fields thirst, she can not leave them to summon the dews. 
When the Flame Spirit of the Sun burns the maize, 0-na-tah dare 
not search the skies for Ga-oh, to implore him to unleash the 
winds and fan her lands. When great rains fall and blight her 
fields, the voice of 0-na-tah grows faint, and the Sun can not hear; 
yet, faithful, slie watches and guards, never abandoning her fields 
till the maize is ripe. 

When 0-na-tah brings the planting season, her crow flocks 
know, and the birds whirl and call in the sky. When invoking the 
aid of the sun, 0-na-tah scatters her first corn over her broad lands, 
the birds flutter down and hunt tlie foes that follow the roots in the 
earth. 

When the maize stalks bend low, 0-na-tah is folding the husks 
to the pearly grains that the dews will nourish in their screening 

true Bu.stcnancc." It is interesting to note that among the ancient Aztecs thespirit of the 
maize was callcil Tonacayohua, She Fcciis Us. 

In the rites of the green corn thanksgiving the Dio-ht5'-ko are saluted in the words daict- 
i-non-nioh dio-h6'-ko, we salute our true living. 

The Seneca women have, (and probably all the other Iro<|uois had), a society called the 
To-wiis'-sS.s, a society composed s<jlely of w<jmen. The Towi'sas people call themselves 
the friends of the Dio-hC'-ko. Their object is to attend to the wishes of Naidiohe'ko, spirits 
of the three sisters, and preserve the rite by which they may be supplicated. 

Owing to the capture of an entire lodge on its inarch from one village to another, two 
warriors arc now admitted as guanls and to keep them interested the women have them 
ting one part of their ritual while the women, for a ceremonial purpose (not bccau.sc of 
appreciation), clap their hands. 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 



65 




66 M:\V YORK SIATK MLSKTM 

shade as they fringe to the sun. When the tassels pkmie. 0-na-tah 
is crowning the maize with her triumph sign and tlic rusthng 
leaves spear to the harvest breeze. 



The eusioni t>i " blessing the fields " is still c(mtinued among 
some of the Iroquois. When the leaf of the dogwood is " the size 
of a squirrel's ear," the planting season has come. Before the 
dawn of the first day of the planting, a virgin girl is sent to the 
fields, where she scatters a few grains of corn to tlie eartli as she 
invokes the assistance of the Spirit of the Corn for the harvest. 

GUS-TAH OTE, SPIRIT OF THE ROCK 

Since the beginning of the earth, when tlie Sky Wnnian descended 
to the back of the Turtle, the strong rock had overhung the valley. 
and since that beginning, Gus-tah-ote.' the Spirit, had been im- 
prisoned within its silent majesty. 

Gus-tah-ote had seen all the creations of earth grow and set 
themselves in place. He had seen each spirit of the animals assigned 
to its duty and power and had waited witli observing patience till, 
by the law of transmigration, he too had been protTered his choice 
of change, whether to the river, or sea, or land or forest or sky. 
He could enter them, and whichever he might choose as his future 
abode, should be his. 

" The majestic river flows free througli its broad lands; I liave 
looked down upon it for ages. There, no one would dispute my 
possessions," thought Gus-tah-ote. " I will try." 

As he emerged from the rock, lie trod his new way IidM and 
fearlessly strong and slipped into the river. 

Down the valleys sped he. and the rhyming Ijrooks eclioed l)ack 
his free song of joy. Through rocky gorges he tossed the foaming 
waves to the sky, and they came back to him rain])owed with 
sunbeams. 

He wound around towering mountains and they jnwrred their 
peaks and wrapped him in their shadows. 

Down a steep fall he leaped, and exulted in rai>mr<nis <^ladiuss 
as he tangled the waves into combating rivals. 

Through stately forests he floated, and the fragant trees dipped 
low their branches as majestically hi' sj)ed through their silences. 

On and on. restlessly drifting, the ambitious river grew broader 
till no more Gus-tah-ote saw its green borders. Past the mountains 



'McaniriK "stiiri'linK rock." 



IROQUOIS ■MYTHS AND LEGENDS 67 

and forests he sped faster and faster, and tlic river seemed to 
sob as in fear of departing from him when a loud moaning thing 
encircled him with its- broad arms, a mountain of water ridged 
high above him, and Gus-tah-ote was swept down into the gulf of a 
great sea. 

But the Rescuer, who had proffered him choice of the element 
in wliicli lie might dwell, reached down in the sea and caught him 
still breathing and returned him to the hoary old rock. 

There Gus-tah-ote pondered and planned and he thought as he 
looked up at the sun, " Tlicrc is the sky, it is open and trackless 
and leads to far higlits. It has no trap to catch the strange traveler, 
T will try." 

'PIk' breath of llic dax' was soft and as gentle as sunlight on a 
wild blooming flower when Gus-tah-ote tried his wings. 

He plumed them and fitted and fluttered them, and widened 
them broad to the air, and with a sneer at the bound down old 
rock he flew high to the sky. 

Down far beneath him were the forests and plains and mountains 
and rivers. Not far above him the svm was crossing the sky, and 
around and around him was a boundless freedom that inspired a 
new heart and life to the rock-bound Gus-tah-ote, who grew^ like 
a bird in his lilt through the air as he passed the great feathered 
birds of the sk\r who lifted the clouds like a curtain above them, 
So near the birds he had watched for ages! How fair this hfe of 
freedom! No one to restrain him, no one to govern, no stone to 
fetter him fast in its bounds! 

In his new found liberty, Gus-tah-ote flew higher, and when he 
looked down, the lands and the mountains and forests and rivers 
were far beneath him as he entered the mist land of clouds. And 
the air grew chill, and a something rushed past him, wounding his 
wings which dropped helplessly down when he tried to outspread 
them. And a shivery wind pushed against him and tore him to 
fragments as it whirled him over and over in the shoreless sky. 

Bit by bit his feathers divided, and his weight growing un- 
wieldy as he tossed near to death, Gus-tah-ote fell down through 
the labyrinthed cloud fleet, dowm through the endless free way to 
the earth ! 

Senseless, unknowing, he fell, and was prostrate to his death 
when the Rescuer came and led him back to the rock wdthin the 
valley. 

Again Gus-tah-ote marveled and planned and deliberated. 
In his flying he had scanned the great earth as it extended beneath 



68 NEW YORK STATE MUSEl'M 

him. ", How fair its valleys! How far its mountains reach sky- 
ward I And its forests, one could wander within these forever. No 
one to watch, no one to follow," thought Gus-tah-ote, and once 
again he gazed at the motionless rock with a sullen frown of con- 
tempt as he walked forth from it into the wide earth. 

All through its plains of plenty and its forests of fulness he 
traveled, yet neither a bird nor a beast nor a human was he, and 
he grew lonely and strange in the new land life. In his loitering he 
would tarry awhile witli the animals, but they were absorbed in 
their own, and there was no time for a stranger. Then to the birds 
he wandered. They were nesting, and tlie days were too short, 
the sun too fast to trouble with, an unknown. He coaxed the forest. 
Each tree had its own spirit which was leafing it and nourishing 
its shadows, Gus-tah-ote was an intruder. All over the earth he 
journeyed, no place offered shelter, no life would share with him. 

Thus was he despairing when the voice of the Rescuer whispered, 
" Return to your rock where you can defy all the earth. The 
waters may overflow you but they can not drown you ; the tempests 
may strike you, they can not overthrow you; the sun may glance 
at you, it can not burn }'ou; the rains may fall heavy upon you, 
they can not blind you; seas may drift to you and overwhelm you, 
but they can not push you into their deep places; old age, who 
hunts for his \-ietims all over the earth, can not wrinkle you; death 
can not pain nor claim you ; unyielding and stanch, you will outlive 
all the land, the seas and the skies! The rivers may shrink and 
grow small at your feet; the forests will fall into the dust; the 
whole earth will die and fold itself over and over anew; you only 
are powerful and firm. The skies will change and the stars grow 
dim and smaller; you will watch from your stronghold, unchanged 
and changeless! " 

Gus-tah-ote listened. He had laughed in the rivers until he had 
drifted lost in the sea; he had winged the great sky, gleeful in his 
race with the clouds, to be tos.sed by the tempest and whirled to the 
earth ; he had once sought the earth to find one vacant place which 
called for a spirit, not one on the earth! 

In his rock rest he had seen the growing earth and sky. When 
they were nameless infants he was guarding the valleys. From his 
fastness he had known all these, and now they reared above him as 
he skulked like a homeless coward beneath them. 

His rock? Yes! No more to wander to the vain things which 
would crumble and fall to the dust while he lingered beyond them. 

And Gus-tah-ote. the Rock Spirit, dwells there content as over- 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 69 

hans^ing the valley he watches and guards. He is free to wander, 
but the river Hows frcjin him, the sky Hfts high to the sun, and the 
earth heeds him not! 



This myth suggests the life lesson of the red man — ■ contentment. 
He is not ambitionless, but slow to profit by the example of an 
untried experience. 

GA-DO-JIH AND SA-GO-DA-OH, THE GOLDEN EAGLE AND THE HUNTER 

VULTURE 

Origin of the Bird dance ' 

The Ga-do-jih, the Golden Eagle of the far away heavens, is the 
Head Chief of all the birds. 

.The Ga-do-jih never visits the earth, but employs many assistants 
upon whom he imposes various duties. To his subchief, Don-yon- 
do, the Bald Eagle, he has assigned the mountain tops of the earth 
land. Don-yon-do won this distinction by his strength, acute sight 
and extraordinary powers of flight. The strong rays of the sun can 
not blind him. He is proud, and his heart throbs to the skies ; and 
although he swoops down to the lowlands for his prey, he flies to 
the highest mountain top to devour it. 

From his retinue of servitors, Ga-do-jih has chosen many of the 
vulture family, whose obnoxious duties lead them to plunder in 
offensive places. But they are faithful in his service, for it is the 
law of Ga-do-jih that the earth must be kept clean. 

Yet these proud ravenous birds have tender hearts, and although 
their scavenger life leads them into base paths, Ga-do-jih does not 
deny them the pure air of the sky nor the clear waters of the earth. 

Among these birds of prey, is Sa-go-da-oh, the Hunting Vulture, 
who ceaselessly searches for spoil. All refuse of the earth beneath 
and above, is his. Occasionally he passes Don-yon-do on his sky 
way, but the lofty spirit of Don-yon-do knows not Sa-go-da-oh. In 
quest of his mountain crest, Don-yon-do swifts through the blue 
of the heavens like the flying wind, while Sa-go-da-oh slowly soars 
within the cloud nets and watches to swoop down on his prey. 

One day in the long time ago, Jo-wiis,' a young Indian lad, was 

1 The Bird dance seen in the Long House ceremonies at the Indian New Year's ceremony- 
is the public exhibition of the Eagle Society, one of the (once) secret fraternities of the Sen- 
ecas. The dance is called the ga-ne-gwa-e. This society is one of the mo§t influential, 
next to the Ga-no-da, Ho-noh-tci-noh-gah (Little Water Society). The sign of member- 
ship in the Eagle Society is a round spot of red paint on either cheek. 

^ Jo-wiis means" chipping sparrow," and as a name was regarded as one of the preferred. 



lost in the woods, and had wept until nearly blinded. For many 
days and nij^hts the rain had flooded the forest, and Jo-wiis could 
not find his home path. In the black sky there was no sun or 
moon to j^uiile him, and hunj^erinjj and faint, he had fallen on the 
river bank to die, when I)un-yon-do, who chanced to be flying across 
the earth, discovered him, and lifting him on his wings, flew in 
search of an Indian village. Looking down in the far below, he 
discovered smoke ascending from some lodges, and alighting left 
Jo-wiis lying near them and slowly winged away. The rain con- 
tinued to fall, and no one had come for the fast dying boy when 
Sa-go-da-oh, winging past in search of night prey, espied him and 
closing in his wings, dropped to the wet earth where the boy was 
lying. Though Sa-go-da-oh 's talons were long and strong, his 
heart was tender, and gently lifting Jo-wiis, bore him to the village, 
but failing to find his home, took him to Ga-do-jih in the sky, who 
nourished him and grew to love him. 

Ga-do-jih took Jo-wiis to the sky council house when the birds 
were celebrating the New Year, and taught him their dances; also 
to all the feasts throughout the year, teaching him the bird songs 
and all the laws of the birds, especially the sacred law protecting 
their nests in the spring and sheltering them in the winter. And 
he was shown the corn and the grains, which Ga-do-jih told him 
must be shared with the feathered folk below. All these laws he 
was enjoined to impart to liis people when he should return to the 
earth. 

Now, the Seven Star Brotliers (the Pleiades) were dancing tiie 
New Year dance over the council house when Ga-do-jih directed 
Sa-go-da-oh to return Jo-wiis to the earth, and he nestled close 
under the wing of the great bird during the journey. 

Earth was sleeping beneath her snow blanket wlien Ji)-wiis 
returned. Her streams were frozen, and her forests silent save 
for the keen voice of the wind which wandered through their leaf- 
less loneliness. Seeing a light in the well remembered council 
house where the people were holding a feast Jo-wiis entered and 
related to his astonished listeners his ex]K*riences in the sky. As 
one of the chiefs remembered the lost boy, his strange tale was be- 
lieved, and it was decided that he should teach the people the bird 
dances he had learned in the skv, as alsd llic soin's tlie sky birds 
sing in their councils. 

At the end of the feast it was declared, that, in memory of the 
wonderful event, the name Sa-g(»-tla-<»h, the Vulture, should be 
added to their clan chiefs' names, an<l be conferred upon Jowiis, 
to whom the Vulturi- had bi-en tin- gixid friiMid. 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND m:gi:ni)s 



71 




WW 



o ^ 

O 1-, 



H 2 



■^^^ \t5^>V \^ 



72 



NKW YORK STATK MUSEUM 



By this legend, the Iroquois know the origin of Je-gi-yah-goh-o- 
a-noh, the Bird dance, which was brought by Jo-wiis' from the land 
of the sky liinls, antl is the most prominent dance of the Iroquois. 
It is celel)rated at their Xew Year feast, and during its performance 
the dancers imitate the motions of a bird, squatting low and moving 

The Bird Dance 



Arranged by Fka.nk B. Converse. Newtown, 

Ca I 1 AUAUUt'S ReSEK\ ATM "N 

Moderato, 



-a-jj s — — .— p — r—a f — 



^^=?i!i 



lilt 



:i?=-— ^ 



.s , 



Ei?=^^*^i^E^'^ErEEEf1 






— ^ — ^. 



a 






1— 



v==r 



-^■ 



r^it 



% 



%h 



^_- 



—■^L 



—s 
1^ — -li 



^^1 



> CODA. 



Shout 



P^-^-^^- 



=ll 






it^z:*-; 



//".'/. 



their bodies and lu-ads as if picking the grains of c(>ni wliirh have 
been scattered on the lk)(»r. 

This dance reminds the pcoj)lc of the law of (ia-do-jih, that the 
Inflian must nourish and care for the birds in the winter as well 
as in the summer time. 



II 



* Jo-wiii is regarded as the founder of ihu^Eaglc Society. 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 



73 




74 



\KW YOKK STATK ML'SFUM 



GA NUS QUAH AND GO-GON SA, THE STONE GIANTS AND FALSE 

FACES 

Tall, fierce and hostile, they wt-re a ])()werful tribe, tlir Stone 
Giants! 

They invaded the country of the Iroquois durinj,' the early days 
»»f the Confederation of the Five Nations, the Mohawks, Onondagas. 
Oneidas, Cayujjas. and Scnecas. who had sent their warriors against 
them only to be defeated, and they threatened the annihilation 
of the Confederacy. 

They were feared, not ])ecause of their prodij^nous size, but tliey 
were cannilxils as well, and would devour men, women and children. 
The^Shawnees have a legend of these Giants which descril^es 
them as at one time living in a peaceful state, and although power- 
ful, were gentle, and hospitable in their 
intercourse with the neighboring tribes; 
but from some disturbing cause they 
became restless, abandoned their home, 
and migrated to the far northwest 
snow fields, where the extreme cold of 
the winters " froze away their human- 
ity." and they became " men of icy 
hearts." 

Unable to withstand the severitv of 
the climate, or })rovide themselves with 
sufficient food, the spirit of restless- 
ness again controlled them and they be- 
came wanderers, enduring all the dis- 
comforts and hardships of a nomadic 
life; and subsisting on raw meat and 
fish, they finally drifted into canniba- 
lism, reveling in human flesh. 

In the summer they wouhl roll in the 
sand to harden their flesh, ami their 
bodies became covered with scales which 
rcsistcfl the arnnvs of an enemy. For generations they had devas- 
tated nations before they swe]Jt down upon the Iroquois. There 
they found caves wherein they concealed themselves, and would 
sally forth, destroying some village and feasting on the people. 

The Iroqu(jis were being rapidly depleted in their numbers 
whenyra-ha-hia-wa-gon. Upholder of the llcaxcns, who had be- 
stowed upon them their hunting grovuids and lislieries. beholding 




.Mask rcprescntiriK Spirit of tliu 
Harvest 



iRoorois MVTirs and i.i-:gi-:xds 



75 



their distress, determined to relieve them of the merciless invaders, 
and transforming himself to a stone giant, came down to the 
earth and united with tlieir tribe. 

Wonderstruck at his marvelous display of power, they made 
him their chief; and he brandished his club high in the air, saying, 
" Now w^e will destroy the Iroquois, make a great feast of them, 
and invite all the Stone Giants of the sk}-." In pretense of this 













Member of the False Face Company impersonating the Stone Giant 



intention, the Sky Holder led them to a strong fort of the On-on- 
da-gas where he bade them hide in a deep hollow in the valley 
and await the sunrise, when they would attack and destroy the 
unsuspecting people. But before day, he scaled a high place above 
them and (Overwhelmed them with a great mass of rocks. Only 
one escaped, who fled to the Alleghany mountains. There he 
secreted himself in a cave, wdiere he remained and grew in huge 
strength, when he was transformed to the myth Giant, Ga-nus- 
quah. 



76 XFW YORK STATE MUSEUM 

Ga-nus-quah, the Depredator 

He was vulnerable only on the bottom of his foot. No one could 
hope to destroy him without wounding the spot on his foot/ and 
this was not in the power of a mortal to do; and thus secure, the 
whole earth was his path. 

No human being had ever seen him, to look upon his face would 
be instant death. His trail could be traced in the forests by the 
fallen trees he had uprooted when they obstructed his way. His foot- 
prints were seen impressed on the rocks where in his travels he had 
leaped. If a river opposed his going, he would swoop it up with 
his huge hands and turn it from its course, and so cross on the 
dry land. Should a mountain impede his way, witli his strong fists 
he would push a gorge through it, the more quickly to reach 
the other side. In the tumult of storms, his voice could be heard 
warning the Thunderers aAvay from his cave, this Ga-nus-quah, 
the last of the Stone Giants! 

It was once the fate of a j^oung hunter to meet this fear-inspiring 
creature. During a terrific storm, the young hunter, a chief, 
blinded and bruised by the hail which fell like sharp flints, and 
having lost the trail, sought shelter witiiin the hollow of a great 
rock. 

Night with its darkness deepened the shadows, and tlie young 
hunter prepared for a night's sleep, when suddenly the rock began 
to move, and from a far recess a strange sound approached him. 
At one moment, the tone was brisk as the gurgling stream, at the 
next, gentle as the lullaby of a singing brook, again to burst forth 
like the moan of a tumbhng cataract or the wail of a mad torrent, 
then dying away as tenderly as the soft summer breeze. 

During a pause in the weird harmony, the marveHng young hunter 
heard a voice addressing him in a stentorian strain, saying: " Young 
warrior, beware! You are in the cave of the Stone Giant, Ga-nus- 
quah ! Close your eyes. No human being has ever looked upon 
me. I kill with one glance. Many have wandered into this cave ; 
no one lives to leave it. You did not come to hunt me ; you came 
here for shelter; I will not turn you away. I will spare your life, 
which now is mine, but henceforth you must obey my commands. 
I will be un.seen, but you will hear my voice. I will be unknown, 
yet will I aid you. From here you will go forth, free to live with 
the animals, the birds and fish. All these were your ancestors be- 

' All masic beings who possessed otgoni, or wizzardly power seem to have been vulnerable 
only on this portion of theiranatomy. The Niah«wal)e. another myth monster, is another 
example of an olH"iit cnalurc who ci.iilil nut l.r killi .1 ,,t l,i rwi^^i- 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS "J"] 

fore you were human, and hereafter it will be your task to dedicate 
your life to their honoring ! 

Whichever of these you meet on 3^our way, do not pass until 
you have felled a strong tree and carved its image in the wood 
grain. ^ When 3^ou first strike the tree, if it speaks, it will be 
my voice urging 3'ou and you must go on with your task. When 
the trees were first set in their earth mold, each was given a voice. ^ 




Mask of the False Face Company representing Ganusquah, the Stone Giant, the mythica! 

founder of the company 



These voices you must learn, and the language of the entire forest. 
Now, go on your way; I am watching and guiding you. Go, now, 
and teach the mankind people kindness, the brother goodness of 
all dumb things, and so win your way to live forever! " 

When the young hunter opened his eyes, he was standing beside 

1 The mask to become the habitation of the Gagonsah spirit which lives in the tree must 
first be carved on the living tree. A ceremonial fire is kindled and an invocation made 
asking the life of the tree to enter the mask and thereby furnish it with life that the Gagonsah 
spirit might enter. The tree was then propitiated by offerings of tobacco and the mask cut 
ofif. 

2 According to the teachings of the Jadigohsashooh, the False Face Company, each tree 
has its own voice which the initiated can recognize. When the hurricane twists down a 
tree the Indian who hears the death groan as it falls, says " that is a hemlock," or an oak 
according as he interprets the " voice." Generally he is right in his statement, it is said. 



jS M.W \i>UK >1ATI-: Ml'SKl'M 

a basswood' tree which gradually transfonned to a great mask, 
an«l related ti) him its ])o\ver. 

The Go-gon-sa (Mask) 

It could Sff hcliiiitl tlu' stars. It could create storms, and 
summt)!! the sunshine. It empowered battles or weakened the 
forces at will. It knew the remedy for each disease, and could 
overpower Death. It knew all the poison roots and could repel 
their strong evils. Its power was life, its peace the o-yank-wah, 
the tobacco which drowsed to rest. The venomous reptiles knew 
its threat and crept from its path. It would lead the young hunter 
back to his people when the Stone Giant directed. It said: " My 
tree, the basswood, is soft, and will transform for the molder. 
My tree wood is porous, and the sunlight can enter its darkness. 
The wind voice can whisper to its silence and it will hear. My 
tree wood is the life of the Go-gon-sa. Of all in tlie forest there 
is none other." 

With this knowledge, the young hunter started on liis way car\ing 
go-gon-sa-so-oh, (false faces). From the basswood he hewed them. 
By the voice of the Stone Giant he was guided to choose ; and well 
he learned the voices of all the forest trees before he completed 
his task. 

In his travels he met many strange animals and birds, which he 
detained until he had carved them in the basswood ; and inviting 
them to tarry, learned their language and habits; and though 
fearing the Giant's reproval, for he constantly heard his voice en- 
couraging or blaming, he learned to love these descendants of his 
ancestors, and was loath to leave them when compelled to return 
to his home. 

Many years had passed in tiie laborious task, and he wlio entered 
the cave a youth, had become a bent old man when, burdened 
with the go-gon-sas he had carved, he set out on his return to his 
people. Year after year his burden had grown heavier, but his 
back broadened in strength, and he had become a giant in stature 
when he reached his home and related his story.- 



' The jirojifr woixl for " medicine masks " is the basswood. A mythical reason is given 
for its employment Init the practical reason is probably tliat it is easy to carve. The Indians 
also ascribeil medicinal virtues to its bark and used the sap as a lotion for woun<ls. The 
bark furniKhcil fiber for twine and fabrics and also when peeled off in troughs furnished 
conduits that conveyed water from springs. 

'The lost hunter became the founder of the False Face Company ami instructeii the 
finit bond in its ceremonies an<l ritual. The editor found one of the Stone Giant's masks 
in the |M>xHcssion of a meml>er of the Cattaraugus Company and purchased it for the Slate 
Muxeum. It never was used in public ceremonies in the Long House but always within 
the companv- i...ii'.- 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 79 

KO-NEA-RAW-NEH, THE FLYING HEADS ' 

Tlic Lony^ House was new and the people were tranquil in its 
peace when they were terrorized by the visitations of the Flvin<^ 
Heads. 

These odious Heads were enveloped in long, fire-flaming hair 
which streamed to the wind in their flying, dazzling and blinding 
those who dared look at them; and armed with two great bearlike 
paws, Avliich were ever in motion as if clutching at prey, they shot 
through the air like meteors. 

When flying, these Heads were of enormous size, yet, upon the 
land or among the forest trees, they could become no larger than 
the head of a bear, for which, but for their flaming hair and repul- 
sive visage, they might sometimes be mistaken; but whether in 
the air or upon the land, there seemed no human power able to 
combat them, and the people fled in horror whenever they ap- 
peared. 

Many of the medicine men said they were bad spirits "■ who had 
escaped from some place of confinement, and, angered that the 
people should be dwelling in peace, were seeking to destroy them, 
while others believed their coming portended some dire calamity 
that would befall them; but, whatever the cause of their coming, 
the people were powerless to restrain them. 

Feasts, invocations and incantations were of no avail; drums, 
rattles and loud screaming shouts gave forth no sound when the 
Heads appeared, and they heeded them not. Arrows and spears 
wT)uld glance from their fiery hair, or bi-eak like a dead branch 
wind-blown from the tree, and there seemed no succor for the 
people. 

Happily these dread visitations would be interrupted for varying 
periods often extending through several months, when the people 
would return to their quiet, ahva^'s hoping the Heads had departed 
forever. 

A long time had passed, so long that the people had nearly for- 
gotten their affliction, when one night at the sundown, De-wan-do, 
an Iroquois woman, with her infant wrapped in a blanket and 
swung across her shoulders, was paddling her canoe across a broad 
river. She was hastening before the darkness should set in when, 
as she neared the shore, a long shadow swept across her canoe and a 
big face lifted from the w^ater, a face whose flaming hair streaked the 

1 This is one of the legends which David Cusick included in his History of the Six Nations. 
^ In some myths the flying heads are false faces. The Mohawks instead of making the 
Stone Giant the founder credit the Flying Heads with being the original False Faces. 



8o 



NF.W YORK STATK MUSEUM 



waves like serpents of fire and hissed to vapors the smooth-flowing 
river. Like all her people, De-wan-do knew the Flying Heads, 
and pressing her infant close to her breast, she sprang to the sliore 
and ran to the forest where the game of the day-before chase had 
been left. 

Looking back and seeing tlic Head following her, she threw it a 



A 



A 




S^ 




Turtle-shell rattle used by False Face Company 

piece of deer lUcaL which, as it stopped to devour it, delayed it for 
a time, and De-wan-do fled. Through all the night she ran, still 
pursued by the Head, and that she might gain a moment's rest, 
she continued to throw the deer meat until no more was left. 

Tlie new risen sun was combing tlie clouds with its sharp-pointed 
rays, and though with the light. De-wan-do could run swifter, still 
the Head was drawing closer. Her meat was gone — what should 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 8l 

she do? She threw it her blanket, in rage it tore it to fragments; 
then her doeskin dress, her leggings, moccasins, piece by piece all 
the clothes she wore as still she ran through the brush tangles, 
tearing wounds that were bleeding and weakening, and the Head 
had nearly overtaken her when, despairing, she remembered the 
charm of an infant's moccasin to avert danger, and hastily remov- 
ing one from her child's foot, threw it behind her. At its sight the 
Head stopped, and in rage beat the air with its great paws. In 
vain it tried to avoid the moccasin, and reeling and wandering as if 
blinded, fell to the ground. 

Hurrying on through the shade of the forest, De-wan-do climbed 
a tall pine where hidden in the branches she rested ; but there soon 
came the terrible creature, and lying down at the base of the tree, 
fell asleep. Thinking the Head was too tired to wake. De-wan-do 
drew her child to her, intending to flee from the tree, when the 
child brushed down a bunch of pine needles which falling on the 
Head, wakened it. Said the Head, "A porcupine dwells in this 
tree, and I will kill it"; and hurling stones at the tree, it broke a 
large branch which in falling tangled the Head fast, when De-wan-do 
dropped from the tree and fled toward her home. But the fero- 
cious Head soon freed itself from the branch, and spreading its 
fiery hair down to the bushes, they were soon in flames, burning a 
path as they spread and following De-wan-do to her lodge. This 
the Head knew, and guided by the fire trail, it soon reached the 
lodge and stealthily entered. 

'But De-wan-do heard not. Suffering with hunger from her 
long fasting, she was at the hearth fire roasting acorns, while her 
infant lay sleeping near the fire. One by one as they burst their 
shells she drew them away and ate them, and the astonished Head, 
approaching behind her, wondered, for it thought she was eating 
the live coals. " They must be good," thought the Head, " and 
I'll have my share"; and gathering the hot coals with its paws, 
thrust them into its mouth when, screaming in agony, it fled from 
the lodge in a great blaze of fire which drifted into the night ! 

"And the Head never returned. It is believed that the live coals 
it had mistaken for acorns burned it to death. 

THE FACE IN THE WATER AND THE DEATH DANCE 

In the hollow of a rock in a forest, was a health-giving spring 
known to all red men. 

This spring, which possessed m3^sterious power, was protected 
by two spirits. From sunrise to noon, Oh-swe-da, spirit of the 
spruce tree, was its guardian, and this was its "charm time"; but 



82 NKW YiiKK STATF. MUSEUM 

after the noon, when "the shadows slanted across it" and Och-do-ah, 
the Bat. had entered the rock, the spring became a baneful poison, 
sudden or linj^ering, as Och-do-ah mii^ht will. Xo mortal sliouUl 
near it for lu-aliiiL' when Och-do-ah was cntiiinij all thinj^s to drink 
of its death 

Ah-ne-ah, Rose Flowt-r. who had j^'one t<j the s])rinjT[ in quest of 
its water, was weaxin)^ the sweet-smelling^ grasses into baskets 
and singing the firefly song as she braided the strands to its tune. 
and. as happy as she was l)eautiful, had not seen the noon nearing 
the spring, and it was glinting the edge of the rock when she hast- 
ened toward it. 

As she held her elm bowl to the gurgling water, it seemed never 
to fill, and she saw there a face more beautiful than any she had 
ever beheld; and the face was smiling and nodding at her as it 
floated from side to sitle of the si)ring, as if coaxing, then disap- 
pearing to return with its enchanting smile which allured Ah-nc-ah 
by a weird spell from wliicli she could not cscai)e. 

As she wondering gazed, the threatening shadow enteretl the 
spring, and when the smiling face vanished, something suddenly 
seized her and l)ore her u])wanl far from tlie forest and, as with 
wings, so swiftly flying, the wind which seemed following lagged 
far behind them. Then hurrying to the earth below, they crossed 
a broad river and plunged tlown its cataract to a wide water, 
which raged in a fury of confusion. There Ah-ne-ah seemed alone 
in the mad torrent, save a face which floated beside her, hideous 
in its threatening frown, and she turned from it in horror, and the 
fierce water tossed her to its bank where a massive oak was up- 
rooted. 

There again was the face, which led her down below the earth 
to a place glaring as with flames and where numberless peojile 
were dancing, carelessly dancing, and among the vast multitude 
passing, were some of her own people who had died years before, 
and who a])pealed to her for pity as they moaned, "don-de-gwan-de. 
don-de-gwan-de" (pity us, pity us). Helpless and dumb in her 
terror, some monster pu.shed lier into the circle of dancers where, 
doomed to the fire dance, she felt herself bliml and dying, when 
she seemed to breathe a new air, life restoring and fragrant of 
pines of the W(j(jdlan(l, and as she opened her eyes it was sunrist 
and she stood by the spring! 

By her side was a young warrior robed as the hunter robes for 
the hunt. In liis hand lie held a branch of spruce pine; on 
his head were two wings, one of tlu- owl, the other an eagle, llis 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 83 

feet were sandaled witli strips of the deerskin, and as Ah-ne-ah 
looked into his eyes she beheld the face that had smiled to her 
from the spring! 




Seneca flute used in playing ceremonial music 

The owl and caglc-wingcd warrior took her hand, and as he 
gently led her to the edge of the forest, related to her the mystery 
of her strange night journey. 

He was Oh-swe-da, the Spirit of the Spruce, and guarded the 
spring from the sunrise to its noon. With his eagle wing he could 
fly to the sun, with his owl wing he could wander the whole forest 
in the night and until the shadow was close to its border. 

Oh-swe-da had welcomed her only to warn. Och-do-ah, the Bat, 
was hovering in the shadow which was so near, and Och-do-ah 
woidd destro3\ He poisoned the spring water Avhen the sun turned 
awav, and the wings of Och-do-ah grew broader as the night came. 
He belonged to the night and his death watch. 

Oh-swe-da held fast the elm bowl to warn Ah-ne-ah away. It 
could not fill. She must see the shadow and flee, but alas! the 
Och-do-ah had seen her, and had sent one of his helpers to take 
licr to the fires below^ where the witches were dancing the death 
dance. 

But Oh-swe-da was freed from the spring, and followed to her 
rescue. He had snatched her from the witch tire, and now she 
was here! But the penalty for Ungering too late at the spring 
must be paid — Och-do-ah w^ould have his prey. She had escaped 
him, but was doomed! 

When the}' had reached the corn plains the story was ended, 
and Ah-ne-ah returned to her home. 

Soon after, there came a pestilence to her people, and a famine 
was upon them. Hundreds fell victims to an epidemic, and day 
bv day the beautiful Ah-ne-ah was fading away, until one summer 
morning at the vanishing of the dew Ah-ne-ah disappeared. The 
lodge where she had faded to death was empt}', and when her 
people entered its door a strange silence was there, not a sound 
save a rustling as of vanishing wings and the whirr of a flying bird. 
But by the side of her couch were two fallen feathers, one of the 
owl, the other an eagle! 

But the faithful Ah-ne-ah liad related to her people the terrible 



84 



NEW YORK STATK MUSEUM 



story of the witch fire, and taught them its dance which could no 
more destroy them. 

Thus originated the Oh-gi-we,' the Death dance ot liie Iro- 
quois, one of the rites of their Death watch whicli releases a 
departed spirit from the evil influences of the witches. 

Death Dance 



I, li A mill lift 

m 



pp 



M 



.\rraii)^'t(l by F. li. C(jnvkksk, 1902 



%A 



m 



^=^- 



:=|— :=l: 



t? ^ 



TON DA YENT, THE TWELVE WARRIORS AND THE WHITE RABBIT 

In his youth he had been evil, but when grown to manhood, he 
had conquered his bad and becoming a warrior had won great vic- 
tories for his people. 

An imyielding leader, he was feared by his foes. Now he had 
passed from his people, the Ton-da-yent, the war chief! 

The wailers had wept, the death song had been chanted, the 
war paint lineil his strong face, and they had crowned him with 
the heron feathers, the Iroquois emblem of power. In his hands 
they laid his stone scalping knife and war club, and robed in deer- 
skin, his dead body waited the sunrise. All tlie night long it sol- 
emnly waited. 

When the sun neared the east sky, they wrapped the dead war- 
rior in the bark of the elm and lowered it into the earth, and an 
aged priestess, Mo-non-di-ont, scattered small lumps of clay above 
him, to propitiate the elements, earth, air and water, tlirougli 
which his spirit must journey to its rest. 



'The Oh-gi-wc is a society with rcKular leaders and fixed rites. It is sometimes called 
the " Talkers with the Dead." When the unhappy soul of the dead member appears to 
one of the living either in a dream or in a wakinR vision, the ceremony is onlered in all haste. 
The formula liy which souls arc released from influences which bind them unhappy to earth 
forms the bulk of the Oh-gi-wc ritual. 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 85 

At twilight when the sun had gone, they planted above him a 
young pine; Ton-da-yent had been a brave warrior, and the passers 
must know that he was lying there. 

A council of condolence was called, at which his successor would 
be named, when an unknown person appeared, claiming to be the 
twin brother of the dead chief, and demanded that he be given his 
name by right of twin succession. 

The people marveled greatly at the wonderful resemblance he 
bore to the dead chief and, save a glowering fire which lurked in 
the glance of his eye, it seemed indeed that the Ton-da-yent had 
returned, and the council did not hesitate to grant his request. 

His influence grew quick and strong among the warriors who 
had followed his brother, and having declared his intent to become 
a war chief, they eagerly united with his band. 

One day he assembled his warriors and, selecting twelve of the 
youngest and most stalwart, told them they were to follow him 
many suns away where he would hold council with some foreign 
tribes whose friendship it was desirable to secure. The chosen 
twelve, proud of the honor the chief had shown them, dressed them- 
selves in their choicest skins and feathers and prepared for the 
journey, but when ready to set out an ominous stillness oppressed 
the air and a black cloud came down, darkening their path. 

" An omen of ill," said the medicine man, but the young war- 
riors, unlearned in the lore of the mystics, feared not. 

Snowtime to snowtime had come and gone, but neither the 
chief nor the warriors had returned, when one black night the 
death warning cry " ga-weh, ga-weh " was heard wailing through 
the village and a gaunt w^arrior entered a lodge and, " hushing " 
the people, related his story. 

The warrior's story 

He was one of the twelve warriors who had followed Ton-da-yent. 
The Ton-da-yent had led them into the depths of a forest and 
down a steep precipice into a dark place where he confined them 
and then went away. Vainly they tried to escape, but through a 
crevice in the rocks a gleam of light entered, and they could tell 
the day from the night. 

For many suns the Ton-da-yent had left them to wait and watch 
for his return, until the food he had given was nearly gone and 
they were despairing, when one night when darkness had come, to 
their great joy he returned, but not to release them. :' He coun- 



86 NKW MiUK MA IK ML SKIM 

seled tlu'iii to remain quiet yet a little hunger, saying they were 
still surrounded by a foe which was j^athering, and if discovered, 
they should be destroyed. Then he talked to them in a monotonous 
voice which stupefied them to dull, heavy sleep, and upon waking 
the next morning, they discovered that one of their number was 
missing! 

Alarmed at the strange disappearance, one of the warriors, 
determining to remain awake when again the Ton-da-yent should 
come, filled his ears with moss to deaden his s(jrcering voice, and in 
the night when his companions were sleeping, saw, to his horror, 
the blood-thirsting chief scalp one oi the number and carry the 
body away I 

Night after night came the Ton-da-yent to repeat his murderous 
killings until but he, tlie relator, alone remained, and believing that 
he too must die, was in despair. 

But an unl<Joked for relief came to him. During the day a young 
bear, seeking refuge from the storm which raged outside, crept into 
the place through an unknown opening, and the warrior starving 
for food, killed it and, removing its skin, concealed himself within 
it. In pretence of sleep he awaited the return of the chief who, 
in the darkness not observing the warrior's disguise, scalped the 
head of the bear in mistake, and in his hasty flight having neglected 
to close the passage, the warrior escaped. Here ended his story. 

The warrior's story spread consternation among the people and 
the chiefs deliberated. They decided that " something was dis- 
turbing the spirit of the dead Ton-da-yent." and that " as by their 
ancient law his body must be lifted and cjucstioned," thereupon 
the grave of the chief was opened. 

There, indeed, was the body, but to their horror, they f(;und 
twelve scalps, one of them the scalp of a bear and covered with 
blood ! 

"It is he, the blood-thirsting Ton-da-yent I " exclaimed the 
young warrior, and the society for the dead recited their chants for 
" pacifying the unrest of a detained sj)irit " and " talked to "" tlie 
body. 

The medicine men knew that the murderer of ilie young warriors 
was not the immortal Ton-da-yent, whose spirit of good had de- 
parted forever, but the ghoul of his evil which remained and had 
assumed his form, and unabk' to release itself from the earth, 
had " become restless," therefore it " must be punished." 

So they built a lodge of light logs and boughs, smearing it over 
with the pitch of the pine, and placing therein a high bier, which 



IROQUOIS .MYTHS AND LEGENDS 87 

they covered with furs, laid the body upon it, saying, for they 
knew that the ghoul could hear and was listening, " we will now 
leave the spirit to rest, and will bar fast the door for fear of the 
prowling wolves." 

Silently guarding the lodge until the sun had gone away, they 
lighted the brush which had been thrown upon it, and it was soon 
enveloped in flames. As the burning increased, the cries of the 
ghoul could be heard pleading for release, and then they knew that 
their medicine men were wise. 

The doomed ghoul continued its cries until the lodge was con- 
sumed, when there came a loud " crackling " shriek, the head of the 
evil Ton-da-yent flew high in the air, bursting into fragments 
and dropping a white rabbit' which ran fast to the swamps. 



The twin souls of the Ton-da-yent exemplify the Iroquois In- 
dian's theory of the duality of a human life, the good and the 
evil. He believes evil to be of the earth, only, and that good, alone, 
is immortal. 

The m^'th rabbit, the evil of the Ton-da-yent, lives in the swamps, 
and during the summer it assumes the color of the grasses; in the 
winter it changes to white, as the Indian says " white like the snow." 
It is very wary, fleet of foot, and rarely ever to be seen. From its 
e^'es gleam luring red fires which float over the marsh lands. 

Its death call " ga-weh, ga-weh," is said to be heard preceding a 
calamity. At all times it is an ill omen, and a death is expected to 
follow its warning cry. 

The good spirit of the Ton-da-yent passed to the skies with his 
death, and now abides there as the Rabbit, or Hare, in the celestial 
constellation situated directly under Orion. 

JI-JO GWEH,^THE WITCH WATER GULL 

It was a bird of night. Its vampire wings sucked the air in its 
noiseless flight. Its prey was life, bird, beast, or human, and blood 
its craving. 

I-'. When its wings touched the waves, the waters would hiss. 
When it followed the streams through the valleys, vapors would 
rise and screen it from sight. Its breath was poison and would kill. 

Ij. 1 Another version of this story relates that the evil spirit was transformed into the screech 
owl. The burning of otgont beings is common in myth tales and the bursting of their 
heads, from whence a beast or bird typifying their evil disposition flies, is another common 
feature. 



88 XEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 

If in its flitjht a feather fell from its win^, blood followed in drops 
hard as flint, which would bniisc to death any living thing they 
struck. 

When it flew through the air, it shriveled black clouds tliat 
dropped bad rain, and hideous reptiles which crawled away and 
hid in the ground. 

Sunlight and moonlight it feared, but in black night it roamed 
abroad a straggling, wandering, blood-thirsting thing of evil ; 
and the people, dreading its baneful power, would hide from its 
sight, whispering its name in fear. 

Whence it came was never known, but for generations it had 
cursed the land with its direful flight. Many had sought its life, 
but their arrows would fall blunted to the ground, and some cal- 
amity was sure to befall the venturesome hunters. It seemed to 
bear a charmed life, and, despairing, the people lived in constant 
dread of its visitations. 

But one time, a voice whispered to a brave young Indian girl 
that, if she would hew a strong bow from the ash tree, and twine 
it close around with her long black hair, and feather her arrow 
with the down from a young eagle's breast, she could destroy the 
venomous bird. 

Thus told, she climbed a high cliff to an eagle's nest, where she 
found some young birds, Avho spread wide their mouths for the 
food she had brought them; and plucking from one a handful of 
its down, she hastened to her home and bound it to her arrow with 
sinew. She had made a strong bow from the ash, and was eager 
to start on her search for the bird, happy in the thought tliat by 
its death she would bring a deliverance to her people. 

That no harm might befall her should her arrow fail, she sought 
the advice of the medicine men, who placed upon her neck a small 
packet of sacred tobacco, and called upon the spirits of the good 
to aid her. Thus guarded, she made her way down to the lake 
where nightly the bird came to drink. 

Cautiously approaching the water, she scanned its surface as she 
listened but not a sound could she hear nor a living thing could 
she see in the darkness. " The dark will befriend me, I know, and 
soon I will see," she thought; and seeking a shelter under some 
wild grapevines that would screen her, she patiently waited and 
listened all througli the night, but the demon bird came not, and 
weary with watching, she had picked up her bow to return, when 
a shriek rent the air that sent a chill tc^ her heart, and looking up, 
she saw the monster swiftly circling the air above her. 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 89 

For a moment she wavered, terrified by the sudden screaming 
of the bird, but remembering the charm the medicine men had 
given, her courage came back to her, and imploring the protection 
of the good spirits, she drew her ash bow. To her horror it was 
limp as a wisp of straw ! The night dews had softened it, its strength 
had gone, and she knew not what to do; for the bird still shrieked 
above her, and she felt that she was doomed. Though despairing, 
still her faith remained, and she clasped the charm upon her neck, 
and recalling the power words of the medicine men, whispered 
them to the arrow as she again bent her bow, and the arrow flew 
true to its aim! 

Shrill and fast were the shrieks of the bird, for the arrow had 
pierced its heart. And its wild fluttering wings threshed the air 
in its pain and rage as it reeled headlong to the lake, lashing the 
water to foam as it sank! 

The legend tells, that when the Witch Gull disappeared in the 
lake, a flock of wild birds arose from the foam, and hovering for 
a time over the spot, winged away to the south. They were the 
white sea crow, a variety well known to the red man. These 
birds had been devoured by the Ji-jo-gweh, and so imprisoned 
until happily released by its death. 

When, preceding a storm, the sea crows are seen in hurrying 
flocks, the red man knows that the spirit of the Ji-jo-gweh is driving 
them, as his spirit is then haunting the clouds. 

SGAH-AH-SO-WAH AND GOT-GONT, THE WITCH HAWK AND THE 

WITCH BEAR WOMAN 

The Witch Hawk was hovering. His talons were ready. His 
keen eye measured the sky. His dusk-colored wings silently 
brushed the air as the pinions of the breeze stir the breath of the 
night. The flight of the Witch Hawk was the foredoom of evil. 
He could be visible or invisible, whichever might best serve his 
weird flying, Sgah-ah-so-wah, the Witch Hawk, the dread of all 
birds, who chase him away from their lands. 

Unseen, one day he was hovering over the maize land where 
0-gas-hah, an Indian w^oman, was toiling with her bone hoe, and 
the maize bent low as she fed it the nourishing earth. 

0-gas-hah had strapped her young infant in its ga-yash (splint 
cradle), woven of sweet-scented woods, and hung it on a low branch 
of an elm where the summer breeze rocked it a song. A swift of 
the wind quivered the corn Jeaves, and the air seemed heavy 
with warnings as 0-gas-hah gazed at the sky and, thought she, 



90 NKW VOkK STATI-: MUSKLM 

■■ The Sgah-ah-so-wah is wandering, the Indian knows its trail in 
the winds, the Witch Hawk !" But the sun went on with its suninier 
day, and tlie dews were falling when O-gas-hah had ended her 
toil in the mai^^e held, and turning to bind her burden strap across 
her shoulders, she discovered her child was not there! 

With a cry of terror she lied to her home, wailing to the skies 
"It was you. Sgah-ah-so-Avah, it was you, the Witch Hawk! You 
have taken my chiM'" And entering to the sad desolation of her 
lodge, 0-gas-hah shut herself in with the night and her wild lamen- 
tations. 

The Witch Hawk it was who had taken her child and carrieil 
it to a dense woods where he left it to die. 

Hy his power to transform to a human, as a v.arrior the Witch 
Hawk had once wooed 0-gas-hah who, in her strange distrust, 
had scorned him, and now he had wounded her with a weapon 
more subtle than death. 

The night dews fell on the child, the dawn sun had gleamed 
down upon it, and a next day was in its deep shadows when a bear, 
prowling through the dense place, came upon it and thinking it 
was a young cub, carried it to its ca\e in a north shelter, where 
the cool winds fled from the sun. 

Years passed. The infant, now gnjwn to womanhocxl and still 
nourished by the bears, had never known she was a human being 
until one morning there came a hunter who related to her the won- 
ders of another life in the world, where humans dwelt. It was 
the Witch Hawk, who had transformed to a hunter, and l)y his 
enticing endowed^^her with his own baneful powers; and teaching 
her the ways of his invisible trails, the revengeful bird led her 
away, and guided her back to 0-gas-hah 's lodge near the maize 
field. 

Attired in the doeskin, her feet sheathed in jjorcupined moccasins, 
and her long hair braided with long grasses, the Hawk led her. 
and well he knew the way, to the door of the lodge where O-gas-hah 
was crooning a child's song, a child song of the long ago of her 
desolation in the maize field. 

When the sad 0-gas-hah saw the beautiful maid, a strange thrill 
crept through her heart as she bade her welcome and, with true 
Indian hospitality, shared her home with her, calling her Gwi-yee; 
and 0-gas-hah learned to love the stranger, yet there seemed an 
artful secrecy always hovering around her that palled like a shadow 
within and without. 

Gwi-yee had strange vanishings. She would sudiU-nly disappear 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 9I 

and return not for many days, and on her return some calamity 
would befall the people. She often spoke of her home " in the 
far distant place " where at one time she was content and happy, 
but had never invited any of her friends to visit this place of 
her peace. 

For days, weeks and months the strange disappearances con- 
tinued; no person knew where, no person saw her when she 
traveled away, and her coming was silent as night. 

The beauty and grace of Gwi-yee had attracted the wooing of 
many a brave young chief, and there had been combats of rivalry, 
but Gwi-yee, who seemed timid and unwilling, was wary of men, 
yet should one of them slight her, some evil befell him. If in 
his sorrow, one should plead when she disdainfully rejected him, 
disaster would come upon him, or some member of his family. 
A favorite with them all, who would suspect her haunting evil! 

There was one, a proud young warrior who, as sign of the marry- 
ing sent her gifts. Tenderly she unbound them one by one, and 
the human that will dawn to each heart was teaching its lesson 
when, among the choice gifts of the hunt she saw a great bearskin. 
" He has killed my brother! "she sighed, " no more shall he cross 
my path." Death for death she vowed, and the young warrior 
returned no more to her lodge, and no more returned to his people! 

Gwi-yee was the most joyous at the feast and most free at the 
dance, yet when she had departed there was a grim silence that 
no one could solve, a haunting fear which none could explain; and 
the mystery grew, hovering above the people. 

Yet Gwi-yee, always kind, was ever willing to bear their burdens. 
Gwi-yee shared her lodge with the homeless and her food with the 
needy; yet she would suddenly vanish, no one could follow her, 
no one could question her. 

During one of her disappearances a bear was seen in the forest, 
and several of the young warriors followed its tracks in the snow 
to a certain spot where the tracks disappeared, and in their place 
the print of a woman's moccasin led them to the village. Puzzling 
and strange was this! At another time, a bear track circled all 
round the snow-covered maize land, and beside it was the footprint 
of a huge bird, both nearing the lodge of 0-gas-hah where they 
vanished, and in their place the light stepfall of a woman sunk 
in the snow path that led to the door. Who was within? 0-gas- 
hah, crooning her child song and Gwi-yee, just returned from her 
far distant home, and the snow was fast melting from her moccasins! 

Thus the mystery grew around Gwi-yee, and as the night that 



92 NRW YOK'K STATR MUSEUM 

drai'L> 111 ii> i.iatK ^ilaa'>\\^. *i\\i-)t.L- folded herself in the gloom 
that threatened her, baneful its power, malign its darkness ! Her 
wooers had abandoned her, the maidens shunned her, the old people 
who knew all the signs of the witches feared her as a thing of dread ; 
ami even the kind 0-gas-hah hushed her crooning child song as if 
in fear. 

The curse of the Witch Hawk had fallen upon her! Why had 
he taken her from her forest friends who had nurtured and reared 
her? What had she known but the simple forests where the bears 
had taught her their liberty life? On their wide walks she had 
roamed far and free. The cheats and sorrows of the human kind 
were unknown to her friends, who had taught her to hide from 
their killing. The forests and rivers and skies were all hers where 
unrestrained she had wandered in her wild wood life. Why had 
the Witch Hawk enticed her to the restless uncertain ways 
of the human? She had learned to love with the human love but 
to be hated; she had been kind but to be scorned, and as a human, 
lived but to destroy! 

Back again to her old life she would flee, never to return from its 
peace. And the voice of 0-gas-hah was crooning like a refrain of 
the dying as Gwi-yee fled to the forest. 

P'oredoomed was Gwi-yee. The hunters who had preceded her 
had surrounded the forests where they watched many nights. 

The moon peered through the snow laden trees as a bear was 
tracking its way in the drifts. Slow and more slow it tracked its 
way when a swift flying arrow pierced its heart, and it fell to its 
death in the snows. In triumph the hunters drew near, w'hen 
from its body arose a young maiden wrapped in a great light, a 
young maiden dressed in doeskin, her feet sheathed in porcu- 
pined moccasins, her long black hair braided with the wild grasses 
of the summer, and a hawk screamed through the forest as she 
vanished ! 

"It was Gwi-yee!" exclaimed the hunter, "the Bear Woman, 
the witch who has destroyed us! " 



Part 2 
MYTHS AND LEGENDS 

BY 

HARRIET MAXWELL CONVERSE 

REVISED BY THE EDITOR FROM ROUGH DRAFTS FOUND AMONG 

MRS converse's manuscripts 
OTT-WAIS-HA, THE SOUL 

Its journey 

With faith in the immortaHty of the soul, the Iroquois also 
believe that each no-twais-ha (soul) has a path which leads from 
everv lodfje door direct to the land of the Great Maker, and that 




Chief Corniilanter, of the Senecas, the tribal historian from whom 
Mrs Converse obtained this legend 

the Ott-wais-ha never loses its identity in the various transmigra- 
tions through which it must pass toward its final rest. 

In its earth tarrying it frequently leaves its human in the care 
of its mortal, or material, spirit, to wander throughout the mysteries 
of space, and in its wingings may enter some other existence, either 
bird, animal or reptile, there to tarry for a time for knowledge which, 
when it returns to its human, it will reveal to him in dreams. 



94 >''E\V YORK STATE MUSEUM 

In the few seconds of a dream, the Ott-wais-ha can relate the 
experiences of a Hfetime. If their revelation be of special impor- 
tance, tlie dreaming human will remember it when he awakes, will 
relate it to a tribal dream prophet who will interpret its significance 
which may prove a guidance for the entire life of the dreamer.' 

Should an Indian threaten " the rattlesnake warns but once," 
it may be the caution of a dream revelation which has taught him 
the mercy of a warning before the thrust of death. Should an 
Indian become hopelessly depraved and fail to heed the warnings 
of his dreams, it may occur that the Ott-wais-ha, unable to endure 
his depravity, will abandon him and descending to his mere mortal 
existence, he will be compelled to live out his earth life bereft of 
his immortal soul. 

But the Ott-wais-ha will not desert its mortal unless by a continu- 
ous abuse of its goodness; and conscious of this, the Indian more 
frequently makes his offerings and sacrifices to his evil spirit than 
his good, for to pacify his evil is the war wail of his battle for 
eternity. 

By a legend of the Ott-wais-ha: One night two hunters were 
resting by the side of a small stream in the forest ; they were waiting 
for the day dawn. One was drowsy in a half sleep, when his wake- 
ful companion, who was watching the east sky, saw a small spark 
of fire pass from the mouth of the sleeper and float in the air to the 
edge of the stream, crossing it on a silvery willow leaf^ which was 
drifting to the opposite bank. Hovering there for a moment as if 
confused it finally entered the skull of a small bird which lay bleach- 
ing on the bank and disappeared. The watching hunter did not 
disturb his sleeping companion, and when at the sunrise he awoke, 
he related a strange dream that had come to him. 

The dream 

He had left the forest in a great Hght and, as if with wings, had 
soared to a far away land, and a peaceful water whose borders 
reached from horizon to horizon. There he found waiting him a 



' The mystery of dreams was one that profoundly impressed the Iroquois but in this 
they did not differ from most primitive people. With them every dream had a meaning 
which the dream interpreter could reveal. One of the ceremonies at the midwinter festival 
was the guessing of dreams. The Jesuit missionaries have left some interesting accounts 
of this custom. Dreams determined the assembling of several of the secret societies and 
Bome arc said to have originated thus. 

The influence of dreams upon primitive minds can hardly be realized by any one but the 
close student of savage races. Some seem to be in a perpetual dare and almost unable to 
distinguish between the imaginative happenings of their sleep and the actual happenings 
of the waking Htatc. 

' According to Irotjuois lore the soul in crossing wuter must have some material boat or 
bridge, howsoever tmall. 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 95 

silver canoe which was vast in dazzling splendor as it floated on 
the waters, which bore him to the furthermost shore where he met 
a great eagle which, seeming to be waiting, guided him to its home 
whose pearl-white dome touched the high sky above the gray- 
clouds which were hovering over the far distant earth beneath. 

Within the dome, multitudes of birds of dazzling plumage were 
circling the air; some were feathered like unto the rainbow lines; 
others as the white snowdrift; but the greater flock was gray as 
the night shadows and darkened the dome as they winged past. 
In a corner, dense with threatening blackness, were groups of 
vampires whose talons spread out reeking with blood, as they 
restlessly reeled to and fro in the strangeness as if searching for 
prey that came not to this land of bird life. These terrors the 
eagle seemed pushing back as they flocked to the front, when from 
amid the wheeling and whirring and the beating of wings against 
the still air, came a voice saying: " Not so fast Ott-wais-ha, you 
are a stranger to this sky way of the birds ; you have left the body 
of your hunter below, who is locked as fast to his sleep as the root 
to its tree. Here the eagle sleeps not, the vulture rests not and 
its wings flutter for flight in the darkness as the earth sleeps below; 
your journeying is long; this is but a rest place on the way to the 
lands of the Creator. You are too soon for that trail, you can not 
wait here. Even now your body below breathes to the sun ; return 
swift to his day and night earth life and train it how to live your 
life; teach it its evil and good; cry into its ear the wail of warning 
and the shout of victory. We are of the peace path which you 
will soon travel, but you are not yet strong; the death birds hover 
near, they scent the blood of your meat, and will drain it to death ! " 
The voice ceased its strange intoning, a something winged by the 
dreamer who looked in vain for the eagle. The water, the silver 
canoe, the myriad of birds, all had vanished as, waking, the dreamer 
opened his eyes to the sun which was sending its beams through 
the shades of the forest. " I know, and will remember, I have 
heard the warning," said the hunter, as he wended his way to the 
game. 

And the dream to the dreamer? The spark of fire which had 
issued from the lips of the sleeper became the Ott-wais-ha, the 
" immortal fire of life "; the little brook the " great water"; the 
willow leaf the " silvery canoe "; the skull of the bird the great 
dome in which were hovering the eagle, the vulture, the vampires, 
the three contentious attributes of mortal life, the noble, the 
degraded, the murderous; all these the Ott-wais-ha had shown to 
its earth soul. 



g6 XKW YORK STATF. MUSEUM 

Thereafter the hxinter would not kill the eaj^le, fearinj,' the 
vampire behind him which mij^ht plunder and kill. 
The dream ])rophet knew, and could reveal! 



It is the custom of some Indian tribes to kill a bird above the 
grave of the newly dead, that its spirit may accompany the soul 
on its way to the lands of the Maker-of-all. Other tribes release 
a living bird from a cage to tyi)ify the release of the spirit from 
its body. 

The Iroquois says the eagle is the only bird tliat looks straight 
into the eyes of the sun. He seeks his prey in the low valleys 
but has his aery on the pinnacles of the mountain hights. 

GAU WI DI NE AND GO HAY, WINTER AND SPRING' 

The snow mountain liftcil its head close to the sky; the clouds 
wrapped around it their floating drifts which held tlie winter's 
hail and snowfalls, and with scorn it defied the sunlight which 
crept oyer its bight, slow and shivering on its way to the valley's. 

Close at the foot of the mountain, an old man had built him a 
lodge " for a time." said he, as he packed it around with great 
blocks of ice. Within he stored piles of wood and corn and dried 
meat and fish. Xo person, animal nor bird could enter this lodge, 
only North Wind, the only friend the old man had. Whenever 
strong and lusty North Wind passed the lodge he would scream 
" ugh-e-e-e, ugh-e-e-e, ugh-e-e-e," as with a blast of his blustering 
breath he blew open the door, and entering, would light his pipe 
and sit close by the old man's fire and rest from his wanderings 
over the earth. 

But North Wind came only seldom to the lodge. He was too 
busy searching the corners of the earth and driving the snows and 
the hail, but when he had wandered far and was in need of advice, 
he would visit the lodge to smoke and counsel with the old man 
about the next snowfall, before journeying to his home in the 
north sky ; and they would sit by the fire which blazed and glowed 
yet could not warm them. 

' Another version, from the Scnccas, makes Ha'-to' the Spirit of the Winter and O-swi- 
n6'-don'. the Spirit of Warmth. The former i.s described as an old man who skulks about 
in the woods and raps the trees with his war club, (sa-ji-wa). When the weather is thf 
coldest he is the most active and any one can hear him rar>p''iK' the trees. It is a very evil 
thinK to imitate the acts of any nature spirit. The penalty is to be captured by the spirit 
and pressed into its service. Ha'-to' is deathly afraid of blackberries and never visits the 
earth when they are in blossom. A boy who had m:)ckeil Ha'-to" once vanquished him 
by throwinK a pot of blackberry sauce in his face. Thus the Senecas use blackberries in 
winter at a medicine against frost bites. 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 



97 




98 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 

The old man's bushy whiskers were heavy with the icicles which 
clung to them, and when the blazing fire flared its lights, illuminat- 
ing them with the warm hues of the summer sunset, he would 
rave as he struck them down, and glare with rage as they fell 
snapping and crackling at his feet. 

One night, as together they sat smoking and dozing before the 
fire, a strange feeling of fear came over them, the air seemed 
growing warmer and the ice began to melt. Said North Wind: 
" I wonder what warm thing is coming, the snow seems vanishing 
ami sinking lower in the earth." But the old man cared not, 
anil was silent. He knew his lodge was strong, and he chuckled 
with scorn as he bade North Wind abandon his fears and depart 
for his home. But North Wind went drifting the fast falling snow 
higher on the mountain until it groaned under its heavy burden, 
and scolding and Ijlasting, his voice gradually died away. Still 
the old man remained silent and moved not, but lost in thought 
sat looking into the fire when there came a loud knock at his door. 
" Some foolish breath of Nortli Wind is wandering," thought he, 
and he heeded it not. 

Again came the rapping, but swifter and louder, and a pleading 
voice begged to come in. 

Still the old man remained silent, and drawing nearer to the 
fire quieted himself for sleep; but the rapping continued, louder, 
fiercer, and increased his anger. " Who dares approach the door 
of my lodge? " he shrieked. " You are not North Wind, wiio 
alone can enter here. Begone! no refuge here for trifling winds, 
go back to your home in the sky." Rut as he spoke, the strong 
bar securing the door fell from its fastening, the door swung open 
and a stalwart young warrior stood before him shaking the snow 
from his shoulders as he noiselessly closed the door. 

Safe within the lodge, the warrior heeded not the old man's 
anger, but witli a cheerful greeting drew close to the fire, extend- 
ing his hands to its ruddy blaze, w^hen a glow as of summer 
illumined the lodge. But the kindly greeting and the glowing 
light served only to incense the old man, and rising in rage he 
ordered the w^arrior to depart. 

" Go! " he exclaimed, " I know you not. You have entered 
my lodge and you bring a strange light. W^hy have you forced 
my lodge door? You are young, and youth has no need of my 
fire. When I enter my lodge, all the earth sleeps. You arc strong, 
with the glow of sunshine on your face. Long ago I buried tlie 
sunshine beneath the snowdrifts. Go! you have no place here. 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 99 

Your eyes bear the gleam of the summer stars, North Wind 
blew out the summer starlights moons ago. Your eyes dazzle 
my lodge, your breath does not smoke in chill vapors, but comes 
from your lips soft and warm, it will melt my lodge, you have no 
place here. 

Your hair so soft and fine, streaming back like the night shades, 
will weave my lodge into tangles. You have no place here. 

Your shoulders are bare and white as the snowdrifts. You 
have no furs to cover them; depart from my lodge. See, as you 
sit by my fire, how it draws away from you. Depart, I say, from 
my lodge! " 

But the young warrior only smiled, and asked that he might 
remain to fill his pipe ; and they sat down by the fire when the old 
man became garrulous and began to boast of his great powers. 

" I am powerful and strong " said he, "I send North Wind to 
blow all over the earth and its waters stop to listen to his voice 
as he freezes them fast asleep. When I touch the sky, the snow 
hurries down and the hunters hide by their lodge fires; the birds 
fly scared, and the animals creep to their caves. When I lay my 
hand on the land, I harden it still as the rocks; nothing can forbid 
me nor loosen my fetters. You, young warrior, though you shine 
like the Sun, you have no power. Go! I give you a chance to 
escape me, but I could blow my breath and fold around you a 
mist which would turn you to ice, forever! 

I am not a friend to the Sun, who grows pale and cold and flees 
to the south land when I come; yet I see his glance in your face, 
where no winter shadows hide. My North Wind will soon return; 
he hates the summer and will bind fast its hands. You fear me 
not, and smile because you know me not. Young man, listen. I 
am Gau-wi-di-ne, Winter! Now fear ine and depart. Pass from 
my lodge and go out to the wind." 

But the young warrior moved not, only smiled as he refilled the 
pipe for the trembling old inan, saying, " Here, take your pipe, it 
will soothe you and make you stronger for a little while longer"; 
and he packed the o-yan-kwa (Indian tobacco) deep and hard 
in the pipe. 

Said the warrior, " Now you must smoke for me, smoke for 
youth and Spring ! I fear not your boasting ; you are aged and 
slow while I am young and strong. I hear the voice of South 
Wind. Your North Wind hears, and Ga-oh is hurrying him back 
to his home. Wrap you up warm while j^et the snowdrifts cover 
the earth path, and flee to your lodge in the north sky. I am 
here now, and you shall know me. I, too, am powerful! 



lOO XliW Yl>UK SIATK ML'SKUM 

When I lift my hand, the sky opens ^vide and I waken the sleep- 
ing Sun, which follows me wanii and glad. I touch the earth and 
it grows soft and gentle, and breathes strong and swift as my 
South Wind ploughs under the sn(nvs to loosen your grasp. The 
trees in the forest welcome my voice and send out their buds to 
my hand. When my breezes blow my long hair to the clouds, the\ 
send down gentle showers that whisper the grasses to grow. 

I came not to tarry long in my peace talk with you, but to smoke 
with you and warn you that the sun is waiting for me to open its 
door. You and North Wind have built your lodge strong, but 
each wind, the Xorth, and the East, and the West, and the South, 
has its time for the earth. Now South Wind is calling me; return 
you to your big hnlge in the sky. Travel (juick on your way that 
you may not fall in the path of the Sun. Seel it is now sending 
down its arrows broad and strong! " 

The old man saw and trembled. He seemed fading smaller, and 
grown too weak to speak, could onlv whisper, " Young warrior, 
who are you?" 

In a voice that breathed soft as the breatli of wild blossoms, he 
answered: " I am Go-hay, Spring! I have come to rule, and my 
lodge now covers the earth ! I have talked to your mountain and 
it has heard; I have called the South Wind and it is near; the Sun 
is awake from its winter sleep and summons me quick and loud. 
Your Norlli Wind has fled to liis north sky; you are late in follow- 
ing. You have lingered too long over your peace pipe and its 
smoke now floats far away. Haste while yet there is time that 
you may lose not y(nir trail." 

And Go-hay began singing the Sun song as he opened the door 
of the lodge. Hovering above it was a great bird whose wings 
seemed blown by a strong wind, and while Go-hay continued to 
sing, it flew down to the lodge and folding Gau-wi-di-ne to its 
breast, slowly winged away to the north, and when the Sun lifted 
its head in the east, it beheld the bird disappearing behind the far 
away sky. The Sun glanced down where Gau-wi-di-ne had built 
his lodge, whose lire had burned but could not warm, and a bed of 
young blossoms lifted llieir lieads to tlie touch of its beams. Where 
the wood and the corn and the dried meat and tish had been heaped, 
a young tree was leafing, and a bluebird was trying its wings for a 
nest. And the great ice mountain had melted to a swift running 
river which sped through tiie valley bearing its message of the 
springtime. 

Gau-wi-di-ne had passed his time, ami Go-hay reigned over the 
earth ! 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS lOI 

Some writers have credited this legend to the Ojibwas, but for 
many generations the Iroquois have claimed it as their own. 

NEH JO GA OH, THE MYTH-DWARF PEOPLE 
GA-HON-GA, THE STONE THROWERS 

Among the fable folk of the Iroquois, the Jo-ga-oh, or invisible 
little people are beings empowered to serve nature with the same 
authority as the greater spirits. 

These little people are divided into three tribes, the Ga-hon-ga 
of the rocks and rivers, the Gan-da-yah of the fruits and grains 
and the Oh-dan-was of the underearth shadows. 

The Ga-hon-ga, guardians of the streams, dwell in rock caves 
beside the waters and though dwarf in being are gigantic in strength. 
They can uproot the largest tree by a twist of the hand and hurl 
massive rocks into the rivers to lift the waters when floods threaten. 
They have frequently visited Indians in awake dreams and led 
them to their dwelling places and then challenged them to feats 
of strength, such as playing ball with the rocks, often hurling them 
high out of sight in the air. Because of this fondness, the Indians 
often called them " Stone Throwers." ' 

When a drought parches the land, the Indian, wise in mystery 
ways, goes far into the forests and searches along the mountain 
streams until he finds the signs of the Ga-hon-ga. These are little 
cup-shaped hollows in the soft earth that edges the streams and 
are the promise of rain. The Indian carefully scoops up these hol- 
lows in the mud and dries them on a fragment of bark in the sun. 
They are the " dew cup charms " that placed in a lodge attract 
the Gan-da-yah of the fruits and grains who begin immediately 
their activity in the ground of the garden. 

In their province of watchfulness they instruct the fish, direct- 
ing their movements and giving them shelter in their deep 
water caves if pursued by merciless fishermen or confused in the 
whirl of the flood. They know the twists of every trap and will 
loosen them to release the captive fish, when they deem it wise to 
do so. They can command a fruitful or barren season and unless 
propitiated frequently punish negligence with famine. 

1 The Stone Throwers are a band of elves who are fond of playing harmless pranks. 
Should one offend them, however, the prank may cease to be harmless. An Indian who 
discovers that he has been punished by them at once holds a proper ceremony for their 
propitiation. Mr M. R. Harrington who questioned the Oneidas regarding their belief 
in the Jo-ga-oh was told that when a good round stone was needed for a hammer or corn 
crusher that an Indian would go down to a creek and place an offering of tobacco beneath 
a flat stone and returning the next day find within the radius of a man's length a stone just 
suitable for his purposes. 



102 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 

By a legend of these Ga-hon-ga, at one time an abandoned or- 
phan boy' was playing ^by the side of a river where one of these 
little people was paddling his canoe. The boy was invited to take 
a ride but the canoe was so small that he at first refused. By 
continual urging, however, the little rock thrower induced the boy 
to venture in, when with a single stroke of the paddle he swept 
the canoe high from the bosom of the river, up into the air and 
into the side of a cliff that towered from the mouth of the river. 
They had entered a cave filled with the old and the young of the 
little folk who began their Joy dance in JKJUor of their visitor, the 
orphan boy. 

Dwelling with tliese people, the boy was taught their wondrous 
ways, their mysticism, exorcisms and dances, all so efficacious in 
coaxing the fruits to come forth to the sun. In the dark recesses 
of the high cliff cave he learned many strange things as he saw 
the little people at work and so marvelous was it all that his stay 
seemed but a few days. Then suddenly they commanded him to 
return to his people. He was given a portion of each bird and ani- 
mal as a charm and told how to employ each with effect. The 
com and the beans would obey his words and the berries and 
fruits would ripen at his bidding, the harvests would be full when 
he sang and the flowers and leaves would unfurl as he walked 
through the lands. Unknowing, as they were instructing him 
he was being let down in the valley from which he had come. Tlic 
Ga-hon-ga had vanished and going among the people he found 
himself a man, his captivity had been one of 40 years, and yet it 
seemed but a visit of so many days. He was a man of gigantic 
proportions and inspired awe when he taught to the wise the laws 
and the charms, the dances and songs of the Ga-hon-ga.^ 

Thus has the story of the little rock people been transmitted 
from generation to generation for numberless years. The fisher- 
man and the hunter know it, the grandmothers tell it to their 
children's children and the children tell it to their dolls, the medi- 
cine men chant its songs and in their incantations for the harvests, 
they dance for the little folk, and the dancers in darkness chant 
the story in song.^ 



' It is interesting to note the important part which orphans play in Iroquois mythology. 
Most of the mystic societies were founded by orphans who had been driven from home to 
pcri&h and other IcKcnds set forth the great heroism and eventual success of orphans who 
are cared for (or ill carcil for) by their uncles and grandparents. The " neglected nephew " 
stories form a large portion of Iro'iuoian legendary lore. 

* The youth who founded the Pygmy S<jcicty, sometimes called the Dark Dancers, bore 
the name of Covered-with-cxcremcnt, in allusion to the filthy condition in which his uncle 
kept him. 

* The ceremonies of the Pygmy Society arc called at certain times to propitiate the elves 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 



103 




104 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 

NEH OH-DO-WAS. THE UNDEREARTH MYTHS 

The Little Folk of the Darkness, tlie underearth dwellers, are 
most wise and mysterious. Seldom do the eyes of men penetrate 
the gloom to recognize them.' 

These Oh-do-was are the wondrous band of elf folk that hold 
jurisdiction over the sunless domain beneath the earth where 
dwell the creatures of the darkness and the prisoners that have 
ofTended the regions of light. 

In the dim world where the Oh-do-was live are deep forests and 
broad plains where roam the animals whose proper abode is there 
and though all that lives there wishes to escape yet both good and 
bad, native and captive are bidden to be content and dwell where 
fate has placed them. Among the mysterious underearth denizens 
are the white buffaloes who are tempted again and again to gain 
the earth's surface, but the paths to the light are guarded and the 
white buffalo must not climb to the sunlight to gallop with his 
brown brothers over the plains. Sometimes they tr\' to rush up 
and out and then the Oh-do-was rally their hunters and thin out 
the unruly herds with their arrows. 'Tis then that a messenger is 
sent above to tell the sunlight elves that the chase is on and the 
earth elves hang a red cloud high in the heavens as a sign of the 
hunt. Ever alert for signals, the Indian reads the symbol of the 
red cloud and rejoices that the Little People are watchful and 
brave. 

Always intent on flight the venomous reptiles and creatures of 
death slink in the deep shadows of the dim underplace, captives 
of the watchful Oh-do-was. Though they are small it is not often 
that they fail to fight back the powerful monsters that rush to the 
door to the light world, but sometimes one escapes and whizzing 
out in the darkness of earth's night, spreads his poisonous breath 
over the forests and creates the pestilence that sweeps all before it. 
Then the monsters, maddened by jealousy, search out the places 
where the springs spout to the surface and poison the waters, and, 
where a deep grown root has pushed its way through the wall of the 
underearth in search of water, they tear it with their fangs and 
the earth tree above wilts and dies. But such things are rare 
for the Oh-do-was are vigilant and faithful and strong and will not 
v/illingly let death escape to their elves and their human friends. 

■nd sprites who often wish to be assured of man's Kratitudc for their favors. The writer 
hii* translated the entire ritual and recorded the songs and chants on the phonograph. 
The Seneca name for the society is Vol-don-tlak-goh. 

The editor has questioned a number of Iroquois children regarding the .To-ga-oh and 
has been told that these little folk have sometimes been seen running through the woods 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS I05 

At certain times they visit their relatives above. At night they 
hold festivals in the forests and the circle beneath many a deep 
wood tree, where the grass refuses to grow, is the ring where the 
dances are held. Inhabiting the darkness, the light of the sun 
would blind them but they do not fear the moon's soft rays. The 
creatures of the night, the bats and birds and the prowlers of the 
darkness know the Oh-do-was and are wary for sometimes offen- 
sive intruding animals are captured' and carried far beneath the 
fields and forests, nor may they expect to be ransomed by their 
elf guardians of the light when they visit the regions below for no 
Jo-ga-oh ever questions the act of another. 

Thus banded the Jo-ga-oh of the earth, above and below, guard, 
guide and advise all living nature, and protect the Indians from 
unseen foes. The Indian, grateful for this unselfish service, reveres 
the Little Folk and sings their praises in ceremonies and dedicates 
dances to them. 

NEH GAN-DA-YAH OF THE FRUITS AND GRAINS 

In the divisions of the Jo-ga-oh the Gan-da-yah are the most 
beloved by the Indians. The office of these elves is to protect 
and advise the fruits and grains. They are the little people of the 
.sunshine who bring joy and brightness to the Indian's heart. 

In the springtime these " Little People " hide in dark sheltered 
places and whisper to the earth as they listen to the complaints 
of the growing seeds. When the sun bestows its full summer 
glow they wander over the fields tinting the grains and ripening 
the fruits and bidding all growing things to look to the sun. Their 
labor commences with the strawberry plant, whose fruit is a special 
gift to mankind. When the ground softens from the frost the 
" Little People " loosen the earth around each strawberry root, 
that its shoots may better push through to the light. They shape 
its leaves to the sun, turning the blossoms upward to its touches 
and guiding the runners to new growing places. Assisting th-j 

They generally are dressed in all the traditional paraphernalia of the Indian but sometimes 
are entirely naked. Two Seneca children who described them said that they were about 
a foot high and ran very fast. With adults they are more heard than seen and are know;i 
by their drumming on the wet drum. The listening initiate who hears the tap of the ring- 
ing water tom-tom knows instantly that the elves are calling a council and summons his 
society to meet and make the proper offerings to these " elves who run in the darkness and 
who wander upon the mountains." 

1 The elves are naturally unsuccessful hunters. This is not because they lack skill but 
because the animals have learned to detect their peculiar scent. Because of this the mem- 
bers of the Pygmy Society save the parings and scrapings from their finger nails and tie 
them in little bags to throw among the rocks for the elves. They are believed to saturate 
them in water and bathe in it. The animals then think that human hunters seek them 
and are not afraid. 



I06 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 

timid fruit buds at nightfall they direct them from the west sky 
where they had followed the sun back to the east and the morning's 
glow. When the full fruit first blushes on the vine these guardian 
elves protect it from the ravages of evil insects and the mildew of 
the damp. 

The ripening of the strawberry is the signal for a thanksgiving 
by the entire people. The fruit, the first grown of the year, is greeted 
with songs of joy and gratitude. The Priestesses * hold meetings 
of praise in the darkness of the night. In their Dark dances the 
berry had its own Joy dance and there is an especial dance and 
song for the Jo-ga-oh, by whose fostering care the fruit has come to 
perfection. The strawberry wine is made on these occasions and 
distributed among the people, a separate portion being reserved 
for the singers who officiate at the Berry dances. 

There is an ancient folk tale that when the fruits were first 
coming to earth an evil spirit stole the strawberry plant, hiding 
it under the ground for centuries, until it was finally released by a 
spy sunbeam who carried it back to the sunny fields of earth where 
it has lived and thrived ever since, but fearing another captivity 
the " Little People " maintain special guard over their favorite 
fruit. 

These elf folk are ever vigilant in the fields during the season 
of ripening and vigorous are their wars with the bhghts and disease 
that threaten to infect and destroy the com and the beans. 

The universal friend of the red man, they assume various forms 
for protection and guidance, frequently visiting the lodges of the 
Indian in the guise of birds. If they come as a robin they carry 
good tidings; if as an owl, watchful and wise, their mission is one of 
warning, an enemy is coming who will deceive; if as a bat, that 
winged animal, the symbol of the union of light and darkness, it 
denotes some Hfe and death struggle close at hand. The most 
minute harmless insect or worm may be the bearer of important 
" talk " from the " Little People " and is not destroyed for the 
" trail is broad enough for all." 

According to a law enacted by these guardian elves, a true Indian 
should not relate the myth tales of his people during the summer. 
Xo one could tell, they thought, when some bug or bird might be 
listening and report the offense to the elves, who in turn would 
send a watcher to enforce silence on the part of the breaker of the 
law. They dread that some creature of animate nature may 
overhear these tales and entranced by them, forget to go back to 

> Ho-non-di-ont, The Company of Faith Keepers. 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS IO7 

winter homes when the snow falls. Even the vine that crept 
over the lodge door may listen so eagerly that it will forget to let 
down its sap before the frost comes and die. The bird singing on 
the tree's limb which leafs above the door may in his wonder and 
bewilderment forget the sun way to the south and fall a victim to the 
first snow. The ground animals may stop to listen, with their 
heads half out of their burrows and, marveling over the story, tarry 
till the winter seals them there to perish in the ice breath of the 
north blast. Knowing these things, the Indian reserves his myth 
tales until the winter time comes and his fireplace glows. 

When the leaves have strewn the barren earth and the snow 
has covered the leaves, and built its mounds high in the lowlands, 
the " Little People " are safe folded in their shadow slumbers and 
the earth knows them no more until the melting snows and the 
swollen streams and the leafing trees summon them to the season 
of springtime. 

THE DREAM FAST, JIS GO GA, THE ROBIN' 

The primal precept incumbent upon the Iroquois father was to 
impress upon the mind of his young son the preparation for his 
manhood, which must be brave and heroic. Previous to the 
maturity of the Iroquois boy, the mother had supreme control of 
his life save the occasional journeys with his father, who would 
teach the ways of the forest, but when the hour of his manhood 
arrived, it was the ambitious father who imposed upon him the 
importance of the Dream Fast. And this grave premanhood 
ceremony was further dignified by the behef in dreams, the most 
potent of which would come to the faster who, at his maturity, 
followed the custom of his ancestors and, leaving his boyhood 
behind him, sought the divining of his man's life. 

During the fast, w^hich must be continued for not less than 7 days, 
the " clan spirit " of the young faster should appear to him in a 
dream and symbolize the bird, animal, reptile, fish, trees, plants, 
roots, or anything else that it might select for the guardian of his 
future life. 

The Seneca-Iroquois have eight clans as follows : the Bear, Beaver, 
Wolf, Deer, Turtle, Heron, Hawk and Snipe. Should the dreamer 
have been born of the Bear clan, the spirit of the bear will appear 
to him in his dreams and show him his future guardian, and the 
dreamer accepts the choice. If the clan spirit does not appear 

> This is a legend of the puberty ceremony, conimon in different forms among many 
tribes. 



I08 \! \\ ^■^|RK STATE ML'SEl'M 

during the fast, the chiefs, who visit him daily, release him and 
he departs unhappy and in disi,'race. having no dream sign to invoke 
during his life. 

To " fulfil the rules," the dreamer may leave his lodge for brief 
periods. Me is peniiitted water to quench his thirst, but is for- 
bidden food of any kind. He is expected to perform acts of brav- 
ery, to kill vicious wild animals, or poisonous snakes, and to pre- 
serve their skins as trophies to be shown to his people. 

0-go-ne-sas belonged to the Wolf clan and was the son of a noted 
war chief. He had been trained to the chase and the trails of the 
warpath. He led in the games, was the swiftest runner, could 
throw the arrow farther than any of his comrades, and hurl the 
snow-snake beyond the bounds. He knew the forests and streams, 
and had taught the wild game to know him. Ho could imitate the 
call of the birds, and they would flock around him. SJTOuld he 
wander late in the forest, he had no fear of the prowling animals, 
the bear or the wolf was as welcome to meet as his friends in his 
father's lodge ; for they seemed to know him, and would pass silently 
bv. He was the pride of the village, and the boast of his father 
who believed he would become a great chief.* 

The time for his Dream fast had come. The snows were deep 
and the winds were keen, but 0-go-ne-sas was young and his blood 
like fire, and he welcomed its coming. To endure — but that was 
his birthright and boast. 

In the heart of the woods he built his lodge of young saplings, 
covering it Avith branches of evergreen hemlock to shelter him from 
the snows and, divesting himself of the furs he had worn and appeal- 
ing to his clan spirit to attend him, entered his retreat. 

His fast had begun, and he was alone with his thoughts. He had 
been happy and kind. No frown had come to his life, nor sorrow, 
and now his manhood was approaching. Ten suns to pass above 
him; ten nights for his clan spirit to choose liis totem. If the 
deer, he would wind its soft skin about him to warn away tlie cold 
winds. If the Vjear, he would string its strong claws to wear around 
his neck. If the wolf, his white teeth would guard him from danger. 
If the beaver, he would wed the water. If the turtle, his shell 
would be his breastplate. If a bird, his wings would adorn him. 
No thought but hope and faith in his dreaming. 

• It i« poiwiblc for a youth to become a chief but unlcs,s he inherited the right to candidacy 
from his maternal side to become one of the several considered for nomination and then 
received the nomination by the women and the confirmation and election by the warriors. 
he could not hope to become one of the council of fifty sachems who formed the goveminR 
body of the Icaxue. The diflfcrcnce between chiefs and sachems is the same difference 
which now obtains between army officers and federal senators. 



Plate 6 




The dawn drink of tlie dream faster 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 



109 



Three times must the clan spirit bring the totem. Nine suns 
had Hghted the forest, nine nights had darkened the lodge. The 
tenth day dawned frowning and gloomy, and the chiefs came. 

They shook the lodge poles and bade him appear. " Not yet 
today," he replied, " I have fasted and dreamed, yet the clan 
spirit came but once. Return tomorrow." Again on the morrow 
they came. ",." One day more," pleaded 0-go-ne-sas, but his voice 
was low and weak. Again on the morrow came the chiefs, an- 
nouncing that his time had passed, and again he implored for one 
day more. " If the spirit does not attend me I will go — tomor- 
row I will depart with you." His voice had grown faint and the 
chiefs were anxious. Cautiously parting the hemlock branches, 
they saw 0-go-ne-sas painting his body, as only the dying do 
before departing, and they pondered. His life had been pure and 
free from evil. Had his clan spirit refused him ? 

On the morrow the chiefs again shook the lodge poles. There 
was no response save a trembHng of the hemlock branches ; and a 
strange silence seemed to have fallen in the forest. 

The awed chiefs wondered, and entered the lodge. 0-go-ne-sas 
was not there, but a bird flew down to a branch on the lodge and 
began to speak. 

"I am he whom you seek. My body is no more on earth. I 
was 0-go-ne-sas. I fasted and waited, but my clan spirit came 
only once to show me my totem. I knew not the reason. I had 
done no evil. My spirit was pure. Death was the friend who 
aided me to flee the disgrace which would follow me if denied by 
my clan spirit. He who would have been my totem, knew not the 
winter. He had hidden from its winds and could not be found. 
Now he has received me into his spirit, and I am Jis-go-ga,' the 
Robin! 

Do not sorrow, nor mourn me. I will return and bring the 
Spring to you. I will sing to the trees, and young leaves will come 
forth to Hsten. I will swing on the wild cherry and its blossoms 
will welcome me. I will carry the gray shadows of the Spring morn- 
ing on my wings. I will not hide in the forest, I will nest by your 
lodges. Your children will know that the Spring is coming when 
they hear my voice. Though the snowfall may cover my path, 
it will melt into singing streams when it hears my wings rustling. 
I was willing, and painted my body red when I felt my spirit depart- 
ing, and now I carry its red glow on my breast as its shield." 

* The name Jis-go-ga is one which has been borne by several noted war chiefs and is con- 
sidered one of the strong names. 



no Xi:\V Yl)RK STATE MUSEUM 

The voice ceased its chantinj^. the Robin had departed. And 
the forest wondered as the trees sent forth tlieir young leaves, 
frozen streams melted, and the cold, gray clouds nestled nearer 
the sun's red glow that drapeil the west sky. The hemlock lodge 
fell to the earth, and all nature began its song of Spring! 

" He was brave," sorrowed a chief. " We should have taken 
him sooner." 

" His totem was late, but the spirit of 0-go-ne-sas was pure; and 
now he is Jis-go-ga, the Robin, the bird which brings us the Spring! " 
proudly exclaimed the father. 

" He is the Robin forever," chanted tiie birds, and the sun whicli 
came that wintry morning looked back to the east wondering why 
it had forgotten to lead the Spring to the earthland! 

The Iroquois Indian plants a wild clierry tree near his lodge, 
" for the Robin." 

THE ORIGIN OF THE RATTLESNAKE TRIBE 
It was in the early days of the earth that the Sky Holder divided 
the forests among the clans and gave each its own hunting ground. 
Now the Evil Minded, being jealous of the success of the Good 
Minded and his helper, the Sky Holder, detennined to destroy the 
order and peace that existed among the clans. He therefore 
came to certain men in each clan and told them that the divisions 
of the forest were unjust and that each other clan had much better 
grounds. These evil suggestions caused immediate strife. Each 
clan became jealous of the other and soon many feuds arose. Now 
in those days there were few people and when a man or woman was 
killed it was a loss that the clan felt deeply. Therefore, when the 
ground became red the clans mourned. Then the Sky Holder 
sought to restore peace. " Let us have a great dance," he said, 
" and in the pleasure of the ceremony friendship will be restored. 
Let each clan select its best dancers to compete with the others 
and the company that dances best will receive as a prize a broad 
strip of land and high mountains on either side of a great river 
filled with fish." 

The clans hailed the Sky Holder's proj)osition with cries of " Xi'itli, 
niuh !, it is well, let it so be done." Then they chose their most 
agile warriors f(jr the dance and a feeling of gooil-willed rivalry 
came over the people. The dancers of the clan of the Bear first 
entered the circle. Their rivals Ifjoked on in astonishment for 
they had never seen so weird a dance before. Then the other clans 
competed Ijut none could equal the Bears until a company of young 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS III 

braves who had banded together commenced to dance with a slow 
shuffling movement that gradually increased until the twist- 
ing, bounding, leaping, sliding, gliding feet seemed scarcely to 
touch the ground. The assembled throng gazed breathlessly at 
the astonishing spectacle. Never before had their eyes beheld so 
wonderful a scene. Faster and faster they danced until at last in 
the wild delirium of the intoxicating whirl they leapt into the air 
like demons, and as the last tap of the water drum sounded upon 
the taut, wet head of woodchuck skin, they brought their feet down 
in unison and finished their dance. The multitude gave a great 
shout and cried, " They have won, they have excelled as men never 
have before ! " Then the evil thing occurred. Filled with the 
spirit of the Evil Minded the wild dancers sounded a signal with 
their rattles, raised their clubs and struck down a score of warriors, 
struck them dead upon the grotmd, and turning to slay others, 
were halted by the angry thundering voice of the Sky Holder. 
" Cease," he commanded and summoning the offenders before him 
he called the clans about him. Then addressing the culprits he 
said, " Without cause you have made the ground red with the lives 
of your cousins and brothers. You have made the nation mourn. 
Your deed is the blackest that men-beings have ever known. You 
have chosen a time of peace for a time to kill. We were gathered 
to strengthen our friendship and become of one mind again but you 
by your treachery have endeavored to start a war. You have 
won the lands on either side of the river but you shall not enjoy them 
as men. You are outcast, you shall forevermore be despised, hated, 
stoned and trodden under foot. You shall be hunted and killed 
whenever you are seen for you have the evil mind within you. So, 
go out from among men and crawl in the dust of your domain. 
Unlike others of your kin, when you are transformed into sais-tah- 
o-noh,^ you will warn your foes before you strike them by shaking 
your rattles, even as you did when you murdered your relatives. 
Depart outcasts, and take the lands you have won but go not as 
victors but as an hated, accursed tribe upon whom war will ever be 
waged ! " The bloodguilty culprits shuffled into line and one by 
one took up the song Ji-ha-yah - and danced into the shadows. 
When they had passed from the sight of the mourning people the 
Sky Holder shook the earth and the evil dancers fell upon their 
bellies, dropped their rattles at their feet and with their faces in the 
dust trembled as they felt the power of the Sky Holder grip them. 

' The snake people. Some of the older Senecas say that this legend alludes to the 
Cherokees. The Seneca name for the Cherokee tribe is Cai'e or Hole Dwellers. 
' Dev'il song. 



112 Ni:\V YORK STATE MUSEUM 

It rent the very fibers of their bodies and they writhed in mute 
agony as their clothing grew fast to their bodies and became scaly, 
as their legs stretched out and became as one with a rattle where 
their feet had been, and as their anns melted into their sides. Their 
tongues divided, their teeth fell out and sharp fangs pierced through 
the bleeding gums. They had become rattlesnakes, the children 
of the Evil Minded, the hated, despised and loathed crawlers of 
the ground. 

Then the clans became friendly again and tlieir feuds died out. 
Then did their hunting grounds seem just and enough, and peace 
prevailed. 

KA IS TO WAN EA AND HA JA NOH,' THE TWO-HEADED SERPENT 
AND THE BRAVE BOY 

To-no-do-00, the Supreme Ruler 

When "The People of the Hill," as the Senecas were called, 
lighted their first council fire on Ga-nun-do-wa mountain- and its 
flames leaped high, there was great rejoicing, for they knew it to 
be a sign that To-no-do-oo was pleased, and they " gave thanks " 
for their beautiful land with its guarding mountain whose towering 
hight reflected far down in the peaceful waters of Lake Ga-nun- 
du-gwa-ah.^ 

To-no-do-oo loved his people, and thoughtful of their needs, 
sent game to their forests and fish to their lakes and the streams, 
that they might dwell in peace and plenty forever. 

It was here that Ka-is-to-wan-ea, the serpent, was first seen, 
none knew whence its coming; and it was here that Ha-ja-noh, 
one summer day when paddling his canoe through the swamp land, 
found it sun basking on the floating sedge grass. Attracted by its 
bright colors, Ha-ja-noh determined to possess it, and gently rais- 
ing it on his paddle, placed it in the canoe. Great was his astonish- 
ment to discover that it had two heads, and fearing it might bode 
ill to himself or his people, raised his paddle to destroy it, but 
charmed by the swaying heads and their bright eyes glistening in 
the sun, his fears were forgotten, and he bore it to his lodge. 

The little Ka-is-to-wan-ea seemed glad in his new home, and 
when caressed by Ha-ja-noh, would wave its beautiful heads to 
express its gratitude ; and the attachment of Ha-ja-noh for his new- 
found companion increased with the passing days. 



' This is a variation of the generally known legend of Nun-da-wa-o. 
*Barc hilt on Canandaigua lake. 
*Canandaigua lake. 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS II3 

The Ka-is-to-wan-ea grew rapidly. It was Ha-ja-noh's delight 
to procure for it the choicest game of the forests, and for many 
months there was happiness in his lodge which he hoped might 
continue as long as he should live. But this was not to be. 

The Ka-is-to-wan-ea, so beautiful and graceful in its youth, soon 
grew to be a ravenous monster, demanding for its insatiate maw 
more food than Ha-ja-noh could obtain, although he was aided by 
all the hunters of the tribe; and having grown so large that the 
lodge could contain it no longer, it left Ha-ja-noh and wandered 
to a cave under the mountain, whence it would emerge to forage 
the forests, devouring the game until the people were famishing. 
In the greed of its hunger, it crawled to the lake where it devoured 
all the fish when, with hunger still unappeased, it encircled the 
mountain with its enormous length, thereby preventing the people 
from escaping, and began to devour them. 

Ha-ja-noh, who had now become a great warrior, was overcome 
with remorse at beholding the destruction of his people; for he 
knew that his love for the beautiful little Ka-is-to-wan-ea had 
brought this calamity upon them, and wearied with grieving, fell 
asleep. 

While sleeping, he dreamed that a voice spoke to him saying, 
" Save your people. The Ka-is-to-wan-ea is strong, but I will aid 
you to vanquish it. Your arrow must bear a charm. Make it of 
dark snake wood and tip its point with white flint, string your 
bow with a lock of your sister's hair and aim at the monster's 
heart." Starting from his sleep and believing that the Great 
Spirit had spoken to him, he hastened to obey. 

When all was prepared as directed in his dream, and he had 
declared his intention to the people, he approached the Ka-is-to- 
wan-ea, calling it to listen while he denounced it for its treachery 
and base ingratitude; reminding it of the time when young and 
helpless he had taken it from the swamp to the shelter of his lodge. 
But the Ka-is-to-wan-ea, who had hesitated at the sound of Ha-ja- 
noh's voice, would listen no longer, and returned to his bloody 
feast. 

" Ungrateful creature," exclaimed Ha-ja-noh, " you shall die! " 
and springing his bow to its utmost bend, sped his arrow at the 
monster's heart. True to its aim, the arrow sank deep, and the 
Ka-is-to-wan-ea, relaxing its grasp, rolled to the base of the moun- 
tain, in its dying struggles disgorging the heads of the people it 
had swallowed. 

Many of the heads sank in the lake where they were turned to 



114 ^''^^^' VORK STATE MUSEUM 

Stone, and lie in great heaps at the bottom; but a large number, 
aided by some great ])ower, were given new bodies, and rejoined 
the survivors of their new council tire far from Ga-nun-do-wa 
mountain. 



An Iroquois will go far out of his path to avoid meeting a snake, 
and will rarely kill one, fearing he may release the spirit of the 
monster Ka-is-to-wan-ea which still exists in the snake life of the 
earth. 



In this ancient legend, the Iroquois recognize a prophecy of the 
coming of the white man, and the extermination of the Indian. 

Ka-is-to-wan-ea is the white man who, in his greed unsatisfied 
with the lands the red man gave him, has gradually encroached until 
in the relentless pursuit, the red men have been thrust away, even 
to the Hmit of the last lands of their once broad possessions! 

GA-YE WAS AND GI DA NO NEH, THE FISH AND THE INDIAN 

MAIDEN ' 

When Hali-gweh-di-yu was adorning the earth with his beautiful 
creations, in a rock on his fairest land, he scooped a deep hollow 
and therein set a lake ever to be nourished by the rich mountain 
streams whose virgin waters would send it their most precious 
offerings. To Ga-ye-was, the most mighty of all fish, was given 
the controlling power of this beautiful lake and, being also the guard- 
ian of all the mountain streams, he could assume the mortal form 
and visit the lands surrounding his domain. 

Although free to the land and water, still Ga-yc-was was not 
happy, his life was a lonely one. His possessions, though vast and 
beautiful, failed to satisfy his desires; he had no companions. His 
authority separated him from his subjects and only the solitude 
of power was his. 

But to Ga-ye-was there came a new dominion; Ga-yc-was loved! 
One day when floating on his lake and singing his power song, he- 
saw standing on the shore a graceful sad eyed Indian girl who 
seemed sobbing her sorrows to the waters, and, as if enchanted by 
the tranquil rhythm of the waves, was listening as they bore the 
song to the shore. 

•Thin myth stroriKly rescmliles the Abenaki IcKcnd of The M'ohiijm .»m/ the Serf>ent. one 
of the A'toiii» stories. It probably came to Mrs Converse throuKh Mohawk sources. The 
Al(;onquin original has the lover a serpent instea'ljof a fish. 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS II 5 

Unseen b}^ the girl, Ga-ye-was approached, softening his song 
as he neared her, was amazed at her wonderful beauty and knew 
she was fairer than all his possessions — and Ga-3'e-was would 
win her! 

Gi-da-no-neh, the beautiful Indian girl, came at each sunset to 
the lake to stroll along its bank and listen to the sweet strains of the 
song which seemed to grow stronger and more vibrant the longer 
she remained. And it comforted her, for the life of Gi-da-no-neh 
was an unhappy one. Furs and rare feathers and the promise of 
a lodge was the marriage portion of an old man whom her parents 
had chosen for her, but his feet were too slow for the hunt, his 
spirit too still for war; old age was close to him and his heart was 
dead, and Gi-da-no-neh delayed. Rut Gi-da-no-neh was young 
and the world lay bright before her. She cared not for the dis- 
cipline and labor of the old man's lodge which she was bid to enter, 
and her troubled heart sought the solace of the lake shore where 
she could listen to the pleasing song the waters sang. 

And so the days passed and she still repelled the old suitor, 
and one evening after a prolonged visit at the lake, just as she was 
retracing her steps, she found lying in her path two fish; she had 
never seen such beautiful fish. Around them were sewn rows of 
shining silver brooches which seemed to have caught the sunset 
fires in their glistening, so dazzling were they. In alarm she gazed 
about her, fearing she had been followed, but all was still and not a 
person could she see, and in ecstacy of joy she gathered the glisten- 
ing brooches, attaching them to her frayed and faded doeskin dress. 
Happy in the glitter of her wondrous find, she turned and looked 
at the fish from which she had stripped them, and was hungry. 
So she built a fire and was roasting the fish when her father found 
her. He paused in wonder as he looked at the shining brooches 
upon her dress, for never had he seen such beautiful ones. Who 
had thus adorned his daughter? Surely some evil spirit was 
tempting her. In fear and rage he stripped them from her dress 
and throwing them in the lake, led his weeping daughter back to 
his lodge. There she grieved and was not content, she mourned 
the loss of her brooches and besought her father to allow her to 
return and regain them, but in vain, for he loved her and feared 
that evil was luring her awa}'. Still she urged that she mti.st return 
to the lake for she felt drawn b}- some strange power that she could 
not resist. The fish she had eaten had carried a thirst, the craving 
of which she could not satisfy at the little spring that trickled 
from the hill near the lodge for its waters had grown bitter. Heed- 



Ii6 NKw YORK state: musetu-m • 

less of her father's entreaties, she ran from him nor stbpped until 
she had gained the sandy lake shore and falling upon her knees 
had buried her lips in the water. Eagerly, she drank as if never to 
cease while unconsciously she drifted into the lake, wheri, as she 
•VN'as sinking, strong arms were thrown around her, and she' heard 
a voice as musical as a nmning brook, pronouncing her name. 
" Fear not, Gi-da-no-neh," it said, " for I am Ga-ye-w'as, your 
lover." Opening her eyes she beheld a tall young warrior, who 
was clasping her to his breast, a warrior as if of her own people, 
and resplendent witli silver brooches that covered him as an armor. 
With his strong amis he held her while with endearing words he 
told her of his love, and the winning was sudden! He told her of 
his long wooing, how he had waited each sunset for her coming to 
the lake, how he had often neared her singing his power 5ong that 
seemed so to please her and had determined to win her for his 
bride and companion. With tlie power of his charm song he 
had enticed her to the lake, with the beautiful fish he had lured 
her, for having eaten them she would ever thirst for the lake water 
and never again would be content with the land. She should again 
wear the brooches of which she had been so cruelly deprived, they 
were the scales of his coat which he wore when as a fish he lived 
in the water. He ruled the lake and had prepared a home for 
her far down in its coolest depths. She should accompany him 
when he visited the lands of his domain and should be his com- 
panion forever. And Gi-da-no-neh was happy in her love for 
Ga-ye-was. 

The day was well up in the sky wlien tlic troubled father, who 
had wandered the night through round the lake, was returning 
disconsolate to his lodge, when from the water came his daughter's 
voice, and, pausing in surprise, he saw the water spread apart dis- 
closing her clasped to the bosom of Ga-ye-was. " Father, I have 
sought you!" she said. " I will return no more to my land life. 
My true lover rules these pleasant waters and I am now his bride. 
You loved me, father, but did not know my heart. I will ever be 
near you to help you, but you will never behold me again. Fare- 
well, farewell!" As she finished speaking, the waters slowly 
united and a gentle strain of a song was borne to the shore as the 
old man wrn<1<(] lii^ way to his lodge. 



When a fisherman of the mountain lakes secures a fish of unusual 
si7X' and beauty, he says, "This is a true cliild of Ga-ye-was the 
fish chief and his Indian wife Gi-da-ncj-nch." 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEQENDS .'IJ^ 

OTrTO-TAR-HO> THE TANGLED ^ 

It was at some time .during the remote period before the organiza- 
tion of- the Iroquois Confederacy, that there was .'born among 'the 
Onondagas a. most' remarkable personage narned 'Ot-to-tai"-h6,* 
and whether myth or. human, he still lives in a; legend that will 
be I'emembered and retold as long as there are Iroquois remaining. 

The legend runs that in his youth he was gentle and mild,, fond 
of innocent amusements and the? chase, and was (beloved by his 
people 'who looked forward to the time when he would be chosen 
their chief and become their counselor. But one day when hunting 
in the mountains he chanced to kill a strange bird', which,' though 
beautiful in plumage, was virulently poisonous. 'Unaware, of its 
deadly nature Ot-to-tar-ho, delighted with his prize, plucked its 
bright feathers' to' decorate hi's head and while handling them 
inhaled their poison which entering his brain maddened him and 
upon his return to- the village in insane rage, he sought to kill those 
whom he met. Amazed at the strange transformation the people 
were in great consternation and fled from him in fear. No more 
the gentle Ot-to-tar-ho ; no more did he care for their games; no 
more did he care for the chase, but was sullen and morose and 
shunned all companionship with his people who also avoided him 
for he had developed a mania for killing human beings. 

The poisonous fire that burned in his brain had so distorted his 
features that he became hideous to behold; his long glossy hair fell 
from his head and in its stead there grew serpents that writhed 
and hissed when he brushed them back from his face and coiled 
around his pipe in rage when he smoked. 

Many believed he had been witched, that some ferocious animal 
had taken possession of him; others that he was controlled by an 
evil spirit who was seeking to destroy the nation. Various were 
the surmises of the people but the mystery baffled them and their 
appeals to their medicine men were received by these wise men in 
silence; yet they sought by long fasting and dancing and various 
incantations to appease the wrath of the evil one, but their efforts 
were all in vain for still the demon if demon it was, continued to 
dominate Ot-to-tar-ho, who only became more furious and violent 
and seemed to have endowed him with supernatural powers. 

His mind had become so powerful that it could project a thought 
many miles through the air and kill whomsoever he desired. De- 
veloping clairvoyance of vision and prophecy, he could divine other 
people's thoughts and through this power came to dominate the 

'In Seneca this name is To-doda-ho. See Origin of the Wampum Belt, page 138. 



Il8 -NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 

councils, assuminj^ a control that none dared oppose, and ruled for 
many vears ■with such insane and despotic sway that he broke 
their hearts and the once powerful, proud and most courageous 
of all the nations became abject and cowardly weak. 

It was at this time that Hi-ant-wat-ha, (Hiawatha), grieving 
over the deplorable condition to which the demonized Ot-to-tar-ho 
had reduced his people and desiring to promote their welfare and 
restore them to prosperity and the proud position they had lost, 
conceived the idea of forming a league which would unite the five 
nations, the Mohawks, Onondagas. Oneidas. Cayugas and Senecas 
and in bond of union ami good fellowship which would not only 
cement a tie of national brotherhood, but by their united action 
they would become more formidable in war and better able to van- 
quish other nations and extend their domain and power. But 
Ot-to-tar-ho was intractible and bitterly opposed to Hiawatha and 
to defeat him put three of his brothers to death. 

Although driven away by the relentless Ot-to-tar-ho, Hiawatha 
actuated by his love for his people and great concern for their happi- 
ness did not abandon the hope of effecting his purpose, and later 
returning aided by a powerful chief succeeded in placating the in- 
tractible Ot-to-tar-ho by combing the snakes from his head with 
the wampum and the union was formed, the nations united and 
the confederacy of the Iroquois, one of the greatest political organ- 
izations ever accomplished by either civilized or uncivilized peoples 
was fonncd.' 

HOW THE FLYING SQUIRREL WON HIS WINGS, THE FROG LOST 
ITS TEETH, AND THE WOODCHUCK ITS APPETITE 

Teh-do-oh, the woodchuck; Xos-gwais, tlie frog; Jo-nis-gy-ont, the 
squirrel 

Iroquois mythology invests animals and birds with all the traits 
and characteristics of the Indian himself. They too have their 
trilx'S ])e(jple, chiefs who hold councils, and warriors who battle. 

Xuk-da-go was the head chief of the squirrel tribe. He was 
p(jwerful and wise, and could become invisible, and one day when 
troubled by a conversation he had overheard between a wood- 
chuck, a frog and a squirrel, said to himself, " I will investigate." 

Jo-nis-gy-ont, a frugal squirrel, had laid away his winter's supply 
of nuts in a hollow tree near a pine, but his storehouse was being 
plundered and he was complaining to his nearest neighbors, a wood- 

' Ol-to-tar-ho or To-lu-da-ho became the first prcsidinK sachem of the confederacy. 
The wampum belt commcmoriilinj} him is second only in size to the Wing or Carpet belt 
o( th« leavue. Both belts are in the State Museum. 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 



119 




To-ta-da-ho belt. Sometimes called the Presedentia. It is the 
second largest belt known. The series of diamonds in the center is 
said to represent a covenant chain always to be kept bright. 



I20 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 

chuck who had dug his lodge under the rocks near tlie pine, and a 
frog who Hved in a marshy place by the side of the river over which 
the pine cast its shadow. 

The invisible Xuk-da^gu libtcnvd. Said the frog: "I wonder who 
could so cruelly deprive poor Jo-nis-gy-ont of his industrious 
gleanings"; and with tears dropping from his eyes seemed to grieve 
greatly. The woodchuck was indignant, declared it an outrage, and 
inveighed most bitterly against the robber who liad found the hiding 
place of Jo-nis-gy-ont, but the wary squirrel kqew they were his 
only neighbors who cared for nuts, and received their sympathy 
with suspicious silence. 

Thought Xuk-da-go as he listened, " Something wrong is going 
on here, I will investigate." 

At midnight the invisible Nuk-da-go entered the forest on liis 
customary tour of inspection, and pausing near tlie pine his quick 
ear caught a strange sound. 

Down b}^ the rock side he saw a woodchuck digging the earth 
which flew in great drifts behind him. " Strange," thought Nuk- 
da-go, " he finished his lodge long ago." And suspicious Nuk-da-go 
watched. 

Deeper and still deeper the woodchuck dug, frequently disap- 
pearing for a time and returning with his cheeks bulging out like 
bags puffed with wind, and skulkingly looking around to be sure 
that nothing saw him, oi>e by one he dropped in the hole the hickory 
nuts which distendc^d his cheeks. 

All the night through Nuk-da-go watched while tlie woodchuck 
continued his trips for the nuts, but when the sun came he hid 
in his burrow. ■-. • 

" Too many nuts — too far from the tree — this is a pine forest — 
the hickory grows hours away," thought the«wi§e Nuk-da-go. " To- 
morrow at midnight I will return." *'-, 

On the following night Nuk-da-go watched and saw the wood- 
chuck carefull}'' concealing the hole with grass. " Who would think 
a deep little pit was under those grasses," said Teh-do-oh to him- 
self, as he sat near the rock and complacently slicked his hair. 

Wise and suspicious Nuk-da-go still lingered. As noon ap- 
proached he peered through the shade' of the pine and down by 
the marsh saw a frog disappear under ^ moss-covered stone from 
which he cautiously peeked, his bright e^ts blinking to themselves 
in their cunning. The frog could jump far when bearing no load, 
but so freighted was he that he could only hop slow to the marsh 
where he disgorged several nuts which he pushed well under the 
moss. 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 121 

" Too many nuts — too far from the tree — this is a pine forest 
— the hickor\' grows hours away," thought Xuk-da-go. "To- 
morrow at noon I will return." 

By the following noon when the shadows returned, the Nos- 
gwais had hidden the nuts vindcr the moss which he patted down 
close to the stone. " Ha, ha I " croaked he, " who would think 
of looking for nuts under an old moss-grown stone," and he trilled 
a low song to the marsh . 

But the wise Nuk-da-go knew, and determined that the thieves 
should be ininished; so he called a council of all the chiefs of the 
forest clans, to whom he related what he had witnessed, and 
advised a thorough investigation. Said the Nuk-da-go: " I have 
made a discovery. Thieves dwell in our midst. They must be 
secured and punished." 

At the council it was noticed that neither the woodchuck nor 
frog were present, and as Jo-nis-gy-ont was their nearest neighbor, 
he was commissioned to go for them and bring them before the 
council. Jo-nis-g}— ont gladly undertook the commission, hoping 
to regain the nuts he had lost, and soon returned but without frog 
and without woodchuck, to report that he had found thein and 
delivered the summons, but the frog jumped so far he could not 
overtake him, and the woodchtick hid in his burrow. 

But the wise Nuk-da-go was not to be baffled, and hastening to 
the pine he sent down his strong power under the moss-covered 
stone and into the burrow, ordering the culprits to come forth, 
when a meek looking frog and a shame-faced woodchuck appeared 
and reluctantly followed Nuk-da-go to the council. 

" Why are we brought here? " together they asked. " We know 
nothing of this ! " they indignantly exclaimed, and the woodchuck 
stroked his grizzly whiskers while the frog in rage puffed his sides 
to near bursting. 

Then said Nuk-da-go: "See the culprits ! — their bravado is 
useless and will not avail. I pronounce them the thieves who 
robbed the Jo-nis-gy-ont. I discovered them in the act and I ask 
that they be punished." Nuk-da-go then informed the council 
that, having cause for distrust, he had watched the movements 
of the culprits, and then related what he had seen; thereupon a 
committee was sent to the pine to investigate, and returning with 
the stolen nuts, the thieves were convicted. 

As Nuk-da-go had so faithfully watched at the pine, he was 
chosen the judge to sentence the culprits. Before proceeding, he 
stated to the council that, with the Indian animals, death was the 



122 XEW YORK STATE MLSELM 

penalty for thie\-ing. but. said he, there is a wiser judgment which 
I will now render, the better for the protection of animals inhabit- 
ing the forests for all future time. 

Turning to the frog he said: " You belong to a tribe that has 
always been able to get an honest living. Your wants have been 
amply supplied. Even a long lapping tongue was given you to 
entice the bugs and flies that pass your door as you rest com- 
fortably in the sunshine. But your neighbor Jo-nis-gy-ont must 
work hard and journey far for his winter's store. You sleep 
through the winter, Jo-nis-gy-ont remains awake and must have 
food. You had not the excuse of hunger for your robbing, you 
were selfish, which adds to your crime, and you must be punished. 
Proper and sufficient food shall remain for you that you may not 
die, but never more shall your tribe be tempted by the nut. Your 
teeth shall grow no more. Go back in disgrace to your marsh." 
And as the frog left the Council House, his teeth dropped from his 
mouth. 

"And you. Teh-do-oh." said the judge. " you shall not lose your 
teeth which you are so closely hiding in fear, but your punishment 
shall be just. You too, sleep through the winter. Through the 
summer all your wants are provided. Com and clover, and grains 
grow for you. and fish, and birds; greed, alone, tempted you to 
steal. The nuts have ceased falling, no more to gather and winter 
is coming; who will help the starving Jo-nis-gy-ont? Your greed 
has deprived him of food. Greed must not shadow the good name 
of your tribe, and all your tribe must share your punishment for- 
ever. Of green leaves and grains you shall not be deprived, but 
no more shall you relish the birds or the fish, they will fear you no 
more. Go back in disgrace to your burrow, and return not until 
spring paints your shadow on the soft snows." 

" The judge was wise," said the council Even the unfortunate 
Jo-nis-gy-ont did not escape reproof, for said the judge: " Had you 
been more watchful and swift, you could have guarded your store, 
yet I will help you. I will widen your eyes and they shall grow 
bigger and njunder that you may see sideways when your enemies 
appear; and I will web your forelegs with wings that .you may fly 
quick to your nest when thieves threaten. But I warn you. hide 
from the sun and you can toil unseen in the shadow^; '" And happy 
Jo-nis-gy-ont flew back to his nest. 

Thus the squirrel won his wings, the selfish frog lost its teeth, 
and the thieving woodchuck was punished for his greed. 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS I23 

When an Iroquois child loses a tooth, it carries it to a marsh 
where the frogs are croaking, and throwing it in the water will say, 
" Nos-gwais, Nos-gwais, I give you my little tooth, send me an- 
other as strong as a bear." And the child in his simple belief 
knows that Nos-g^vais, who craves small teeth, will hear him and 
grant his request. 

When Teh-do-oh " paints his shadow " on the snows, the Indian 
knows that spring is near. 

NYA-GWA-IH, HOW THE BEAR LOST ITS TAIL' 

Nya-gwa-ih, the bear, who was hunting the forest for his winter 
store of nuts and honey, had traveled far from his home when he 
met an aged fox who informed him that he had just passed the 
river where he saw some strange little animals dive down to a 
burrow beneath the water. He thought they were young otters, 
and had watched for their return but they had not appeared, and 
he urged the bear to go with him and endeavor to entice them 
from their hiding place. 

The credulous bear, smacking his lips and licking out his tongue 
in anticipation of a feast, hunched himself down to the water 
where upon looking in he saw the reflection of his own face, and 
believing it to be one of the little mysteries which the fox had seen, 
sat himself down to watch for its reappearance. 

Untiringly he waited, as the artful fox encouraged. At length 
it occurred to the bear to allure the unknown little creatures by 
fishing for them and the bear was a genial fisherman. He had the 
patience to wait all the day by a stream, and the cunning to 
watch breathlessly, fearing to shadow the water, but now, alas, 
he had no bait! What was he to do? The artful fox suggested 
that he should swim to a log that was floating near, and after he 
had fixed himself firm, to drop his tail in the water. Soon some- 
thing would seize it, when he was to lift it up to the log and whip 
the game over to the shore where he would remain and protect 
it for him. 

By the persuasions of the wily fox, the unsuspecting bear swam 
out to the log where he secured himself and dropped his tail into 
the water, and the tail of the bear was broad, and so long it reached 
near to the bottom of the river. 

Soon a something shook the tail, and as the bear lifted it up, he 
saw a wriggling little animal, not a bird, nor a fish, but a something 
of flesh very like a young otter, and he slung it across the stream 
to the fox. " That is fine!" said the fox. Again and again the 

^ This legend is probably from European sources. 



IJ4 -'^''■-^^' VORK STATF. MLS KIWI 

bear lowered his tail in the water, to secure the shoal which seemed 
to have gathered around him. Whenever the tail shook, he would 
throw hisijame to the fox who would urj^je him on. This continued 
until a gusty north winil whicli chanced to be passing stojiped in 
its wonder and deriiling the bear, blew its cold breath over the 
water. And the river became quiet and its waves suddenly 
stretched out as smooth as a blanket. Xo more could they chase 
each other in their race with the wind nor lap to the shore when 
it thirsted in the sun. for the north wind had frozen them down 
by its breath. But the foolisii and unheeding bear, intent on his 
game, waited till night. No more came the tremulous snipping 
at his tail, no longer his tail grew heavy with the wrigglers. The 
bear, who could not see the crafty fox devouring his pile of game, 
exclaimed, " How suddenly the wrigglers have stopped biting my 
tail! What does it mean"'" 

The subtle fox caught snitling and choking (ner a bone, replied : 
" Something has drifted against them. Wait till it passes." And 
the good natured bear who in his mind was counting the game 
which he had thrown to the sliore, saw the night coming, and 
thought of his home to which he knew he must hasten. He had 
his honey and his nuts beside liis river game to carry, and the way 
was long. As he was Hxing liimself to tra\'el, in his hospitality 
he invited the fox to return witli him wlicn tliey would partake 
of the feast together; and if the fox was willing, he could help 
carry the game. But no answer came to his invitation. Again 
he called to tlie fox. No answer, and lie rai.sed himself to jump 
from the log. But his tail was " so heavy." " Some big game," 
gleefully thought he. as he pulled stronger. " .My! how that game 
pulls!" thought the bear. " Now I will liring it." Ami with a 
vigorous jump, he made a lunge for the shore when lo! his tail 
was left in the water! The satirical north wind had inr/.cn it fast! 
And the friendly, advising fox! Where was he? Vanished! 
And the game? A jtile of half chewed bones on the bank! With 
a sigh and a sneering smile, the tailless bear lifted his load of honey 
and nuts and lumbered along to his cave miles away! 

Thus the bear lost his tail and his tailless descendants have 
never been lishermen. 

THE ALGONQUIN AND WAN-NUT HA 
I)is<laining di-ath, scorning his foes, defying the stake and 
challenging its torture, Hon-do-sa, an Algoncjuin chieftain, 
awaited lii^ dixim .it ^imri^i- Tlr w.i^ tlir captive of a Seneca 
sachem. 



IROOUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS I25 

For fifty years, war between the Algonquins and the Iroquois 
had raged with direful fury ; for fifty years their hate had shown no 
mercy; and for fifty years their slain warriors had been passing to 
eternity, leaving the bloody strife an inheritance for their de- 
scendants. Fifty years of the oppressor and the oppressed, of 
Algonquin persecution and Iroquois defense; and now, Hon-do- 
sa, a young Algonquin chief, stoically awaited the Seneca's doom 
of death at the stake. 

Hon-do-sa had been captured in a battle where the son of the 
sachem was killed, and the blood of the Algonquin must atone 
for his death. 

It was an early custom, that during the time preceding the 
putting to death of a captive, he should receive the utmost hospi- 
tality, be treated rather as a guest than a prisoner, and while 
strongly guarded to prevent his escape, he was given the best 
lodge in the canton, the softest furs were his bed, and provided 
with tlic choicest food by a female attendant, chosen for her beauty. 
Wan-nut-ha, the sachem's daughter, the most beautiful maiden of 
the tribe, was selected to attend the Algonquin, and for many days 
had cared for him. But with the daj's, the stoical, quiet resigna- 
tion of Hon-do-sa had not passed unnoticed by Wan-nut-ha, and 
a feeling like that of pity had tmconsciously come upon her. He 
had been brave in battle, and now though a captive who must 
die, was haughty in his silence, and defianth' awaited his doom. 
Yet Wan-nut-ha softened toward him. " So near death, and so 
brave and how fair to die!" she sighed. But the days of his cap- 
tivity had passed; on the morrow at sunrise he must die. For 
the last time Wan-nut-ha carried the food to his lodge, and she 
lingered. Whv did she tarry? What new emotion stirred her 
heart to detain her? He was a foe of her people, wh\' should she 
pity? But at the last, when his eyes spoke to her's a silent fare- 
well, she then knew; and quick flashed the thovight of her canoe 
on the lake that could bear him away. " Tonight," she whispered, 
" when the owl cries the midnight and the bittern screams sad by 
the lake shore, listen. Wan-nut-ha will be near." 

At midnight she cautiously neared the lodge. The guard was 
asleep, though thonged to the captive! A stir might awake him. 
Faster her heart throbbed, and the life of Hon-do-sa seemed as her 
own, but she faltered not. The guard slept as she loosened the 
thongs and silently they fled through the tangled marshes, hand 
clasped in hand, down to the lake where rocked her canoe. 

Had the horrors of the fift}- years strife paled Wan-nut-ha's blood 



126 



Ni:\V YORK STATE MUSKUM 



to compassion? Was it but pity that had stirred a new thrill 
in her heart? Ah! love attires itself in various ways to enter each 
heart ! 

" Ga-nun-t!u-wa mountain is not far," she said, as she paddled 
her canoe swift throuj^h the waters; l)ut as the canoe touched the 
shore the faint cries of their pursuers came, borne on the breeze of 
tlif dawn " TIa<t<-. ll<>n-.1..-sa I " she exclaimed, as she pointed the 




Ta-lia-iiionI . an Aluini'iiiiii ilm-t 



way of his flij^ht. " Xow you are free! Farewell. Flee to your 
people! I will remain. Wan-nut-ha. who, by the hand of her father, 
the sachem, will die for youl 

Leay)inj.,' to the shon-, llon-(lo-sa, the warrior, lin'nired. All the 
suns he had known Wan-nut-ha i)assed In-fore him. "■ Life from 
Wan-nut-ha would not be freedom for Hon-do-sa." In- exelaiTiied. 
" Dawn after tlawn. when thonged and alone in his prison lodge, 
Wan-nut ha l)rought the sun to Hon-do-sa; anil now slu- bids him 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 12/ 

flee from her forever. Like a brave warrior he should have waited 
his fate. Now the sun turns away, and a black cloud covers its face. 
Nothing but gloom and the shadows come now to me. The foes of 
Hon-do-sa fast follow, mad in their hate; the arrows will soon hiss 
his doom. Oh-ne, (farewell) Wan-nut-ha! Wan-nut-ha opened a 
new light to Hon-do-sa. Now it is black and forsaken. Return to 
her people, and forget the Algonquin. He will wait here to die." 
And the brave Hon-do-sa, so strong in battle, so weak in love, 
turned his face from the sunrise to meet his fast coming foes. 

But Wan-nut-lial In the conflict of loving, despairing, pitying 
yet brave; forgetting her kin, forgetting her blood which raced 
in hate for her foes; she sprang from her canoe, exclaiming as she 
sent it adrift: " Not alone shall my brave Algonc^uin die; as two 
leaves that grow from one stem, is the life of Hon-do-sa and the life 
of Wan-nut-ha ; and as one life they shall live, or as one life will die ! " 

Swift as two shadow clouds they sped up the steep cliffs, and 
nearing their highest crag, calmly awaited the coming of the pursu- 
ing warriors. 

For her wild love, Wan-nut-ha forsook her people and now dared 
their hate ; and for love, the chieftain, who feared not death, clasped 
her to his heart and with a shout of triumphant scorn at his baffled 
foes, together they leaped to their death on the sharp rocks below! 

There at the foot of the great cliffs across the lake from Ga-nun- 
do-wa mountain a heavy oak watches its shadows as it follows the 
course of the sun, and when the bittern screams and the owl cries 
the midnight, the tremulous leaves of the old tree sigh like unto 
human voices, and its branches bend lower to guard the vigils of a 
spirit that wanders forth to renew its vows. 

The sachem and his warriors entered the dust; the forests are 
laid in fair plains that bear the harvests ; the lake carries the burdens 
of the paleface, and the birch bark canoe no longer drifts on its 
waters. But the oak still watches and counts the ages and Wa-nut- 
ha's spirit still sighs in its shadow where it waits to welcome Hon- 
do-sa. 



MlSCi:i.LA\E()US I'Al'KKS 

BV 
HARRIIvT M.WWHLL CONVERSE 

IROQUOIS INDIANS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 
The Ilo-cii'-tio-SiUt-ncv or People of the Louii House 

At tlio era of the Dutch discovery, i6oq. the Iroquois were found 
in possession of the same territories between the Hudson and 
Genesee rivers, upon which they aftenvards continued to reside 
until the close of the i-Sth century. At that time the Five Nations, 
into which they had become subdivided, were united in a leaji^ue; 
but its fomiation was subsequent to their establishment in the 
territories out of wliich the State of New York has since been 
erected. 

Tradition interposes its feeble lijjjht to extricate from the con- 
fusion which time has wrought, some of the leading events which 
preceded and marked their political organization. It informs us 
that prior to their occupation of New York they resided in the 
vicinity of Montreal upon the northern bank of the St Lawrence, 
where they lived in subjection to the Adirondacks, a branch of 
the Algonquin race, then in possession of the whole country north 
of that river. From the Adirondacks they learned the art of hus- 
bandry, and while associated with them became inured to the 
hardships of the warpath and of the chase. After they hatl mul- 
tiplied they attempted possession of the country of the Adiron- 
dacks but were overpowered by the latter and forced to leave their 
lands to escape extermination. In due time they migrated into 
the present territory of New York wStatc, and, di\iding into bands, 
spread abroad to found new \illages. 

One, crossing over to the Mohawk, established itself at Ga-ne- 
ga-ha-ga below Utica and afterwards became the Mohawk nation. 
For many years the Oneiilas and Onondagas were one nation, 
but one ])art of these Xwu settled at Oneida lake and became a 
separate nation; the other claiming the Onondaga valley in time 
also became independent. The Cayugas and Senecas were for 
many years unite<l, but finally dixidcd and became indixidual 
nations. 

All of these people were comjK'lled to war with the various tribes 
whom they found in possession of the country. After the expulsion 

128 



IROQUOIS -MVTIIS AND I.KGKNDS I29 

of these people, the interest of the original Five Nations became 
distinct, and gradually dividing, they came into open warfare with 
each other. These wars continued for an unknown period, until 
finally the project of a league was suggested by the Onondagas as 
means to enable them to effectually resist contiguous nations. 

Histories of the white people relate that the Iroquois were leagued 
about a century previous to the advent of the \\ hitc people. To the 
contrary the traditions of the Iroquois indicate a period far remote. 
[Morgan. League of the Iroquois] 

Among the wars of the united nations the struggle with their old 
enemy, the Adirondacks, was the most severe. This war con- 
tinued nearly fifty years till the Adirondacks were nearly exter- 
mmated. A new era commenced with the Iroquois on the establish- 
ment of the Dutch trading post at Fort Orange, now Albany, in 
1 61 5. The principal Indians in the north were the Hurons and 
Adirondacks; on the west, Eries, the Neuter nation, Miamis, Otto- 
was and Illinois; on the south the Shawnees, Cherokees, Catawbas, 
Susquehannocks, Delawares, Nanticokes and some lesser nations; 
on the east the Minsi and New England Indians. Some of these 
nations were subjugated and made tributary and others utterly 
exterminated, till the Iroquois became absolute dictators. 

The friendly relations between the Indians and the Dutch, 
beginning in 1 6 1 5 , were preserved with fidelity till the independence 
of the American states terminated the jurisdiction of the English 
over the country, and even then the Mohawks, adhering to the 
crown, divided from their brothers and left the league. This was 
the first break in the confederacy, but the St Regis Indians were 
lately inducted into the league to take the place of the Mohawks.^ 

At the institution of the Ho-de-no-sau-nee, fifty permanent 
sachemships were created with appropriate names. Of these there 
yet remain intact the inherited sachem titles. These are unchange- 
able and inherited by clanship. Of these, to the Mohawks were dis- 
tributed 9; to the Oneidas 9; to the Onondagas 14; to the Cayugas 
10 ; to the Senecas 8. At the present moment tribal law is continued 
among the Onondagas and Tonawanda Senecas, and also by the 
St Regis who entered the league as successors to the Mohawks in 
1883. To these were given the nine original Mohawk sachemships. 
The Cattaraugus and Salamanca Senecas abandoned the tribal law 



' The adoption of the St Regis Indians was brought about largely through the influence 
of Mrs Converse. 



130 NKW \it\iK STATE ML'SEUM 

111 l^4,^ ami assumed a republican form of government by electing 
a president and board of councilmen. These include the peace- 
makers. 

The original clans which divided the people into families, were the 
Wolf. Bear. Beaver, Turtle. Deer. Snipe, Heron and Hawk.- By this 
division which was equal among the Five Nations, the people were 
bound to each other by the ties of consanguinity. A Seneca Wolf 
regarded an Onondaga Wolf as a l)rotlicr, and so on throughout 
the league. So carefully provided was this clanship that a Seneca 
Wolf could not marry an Onondaga Wolf. By this relationship, 
the league preserveil for itself not only blood distinction but abso- 
lute union, as in case of war brother would fight against brother, 
which was against their bond of brotherhood. 

The census enumeration of 1890 shows that the Iroquois furnished 
162 soldiers ' and sailors for the Civil War. It has been estimated 
that in 1660 there were 11,000 Iroquois. This, however, is indefi- 
nite. The total population in 1890, excluding the 106 Oneidas, was 
5133. Of these 2844 could not speak English. The Onondaga Reser- 
vation is 6100 acres; Tonawanda Scnecas about 8000; Allegany 
Senecas 30,469; Oil Spring 640; Cattaraugus Senecas 21,680; St 
Regis 14,640; Tuscaroras 6249. The Oneidas have no reservation 
in this State. They are largely represented in Green Bay, Wis., 
and those who live here in New York State are " guests " of the 
Onondagas and other nations. The Cayugas who have no separate 
reservation reside on diflferent reservations, the largest number 
being at Cattaraugus. These are the New York State Indians. 
On their reservations there are 1 2 churches. Some of the congre- 
gations worship in private houses or halls. The " pagans " assemble 
for business, religious ceremonies, feasts, condolences, and councils 



' Although the active government of the Seneca Nation is the modem republican form, 
underlying this is the ancient tribal form. This survival is fostered by the pagan party 
»nd is the link that holds together the old form of the ancient league. The sachem names 
are still carefully transmitted and the tribal customs form the basis of the common law 
held at present. 

' The eight clans here named were those of the Senecas. The three common clans were 
the clans of the Bear, Wolf and Turtle. These were the elder clans and the sachems be- 
longing to them were the most influential in the league councils. Among the Senecas. 
Cayugas and Onondagas the clans were divided into two phratries. the Animal and the 
Bird. The Animals were called the elder brothers. Strangely the Deers were the head 
of the Bird phratry, whose other members were the Snipe, Heron and Hawk. Each 
phratry when in council sits opposite the other. 

' It is retorde<l that the Irotjuois soldiers in the Civil War were the finest body of men in 
the army, consiclered from a physical standard. The Iroquois arc still a splendid people 
physically as is attested by the number of athletes among them who have made world records. 
The record of Ueerfoot in 1864 in which he ran u miles in 63 minutes, ij seconds is well 
known and in modern times the skill of the Pierce brothers on the track and of Thomas 
Longboat, the Canadian Onondaga, has attracted much attention. A number arc expert 
ball players and a Seneca is a professional athletic trainer. 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS I3I 

in their council houses or private residences. Among the Iroquois 
various trades are represented.^ Of the full number of the census 
there are 185 basketmakers, 528 farmers, 696 laborers and various 
others who are independent farmers and mechanics. 

The Tuscaroras who entered the league about 17 13 are included 
in the census enumeration. As this nation was not of the original 
Five Nations, they ha\'e not been recognized by title right to sachem- 
ship. 

After three centuries of conflict with an invading race wliich in 
its greed for lands and wealth had but little sympathy for the ab- 
original owners of tlie soil, we find the Iroquois still with us success- 
ful in their struggle to retain their ancients seats. Every other 
native nation, tribe or band of Indians in the east has been ex- 
terminated or driven toward the west where small acres in a broad 
land remain to them. 

The Iroquois by Iiis unconciucrable tenacitv, his dogged determina- 
tion to remain, his wonderful national vitality has earned the 
admiration and respect of the world and ethnologists acclaim him 
the master type of the American Indian. By their wondrous con- 
ception of the Confederac\' of the Five Nations, in the union of the 
Mohawks, Cayugas, Oneidas, Onondagas and Senecas, they formed 
one political confederation of ci\-il and war power unequaled by 
any other primitive people. This confederated league was absorbing 
all adjacent nations when disturbed b}" the advent of the white 
people. Their war cry to the enemy being absorption or extermina- 
tion they were continually augmenting their numbers. Their 
government was a structure of durability in its filial principles of 
equality, fraternity and inflexible loyalty, a sort of socialism free 
from any humility or pernicious dissensions of political bondage. 
Their religious conceptions were far above those of the ancient 
philosophers or the tendencies of the ancient myth god worshipers. 
The student who intelligently translates the Indian religion opens 
the wider door for good will and humanity, in fact, as a distinguished 
bishop of the EpiscopaHan church has said, " The American Indian 
is the most magnificent heathen on the face of the earth, he has but 
one God and believes in the immortality of soul." As this is 



' Iroquois Indians at present are engaged in many different trades and professions. Some 
are masons, molders, carpenters, bakers, painters, engineers, railroad trainmen, conductors, 
clerks in business and banking houses, cooks, shopkeepers, blacksmiths etc.; in pro- 
fessional lines they will be found engaged in the practice of law and medicine, in music, 
in teaching, both in primary and higher branches, and some are engaged professionally 
in scientific pursuits. Others will be found as laborers drifting about among the whites, 
as teamsters and farm hands and the like. 



IJ\^ NEW V<IKK STATE ML'SELM 

the base of all true religion, it is a shame that zealous and honest 
workers among the Indians should not aequaint themselves with 
the tenets of their ancient faith, thereby harmonizing its jjrimal 
truths with any newer religion that may be taught to them. 

Philosophy and science were processes of knowledge unknown 
by the primitive red man yet by their intuitions, lofty and intellec- 
tual, they evolved a purely sjjintual religion with one inxisible 
Great Spirit as its ruler who made himself known to them by his 
works visible in all the benedictions of nature. To the Indian 
there occurred no idea of the omnipresence of a ruling ])ower, 
therefore "assistants" who were subservient to his will were as- 
signed certain duties. Unlike the pagans of oUl these were not 
worshiped as inilividual gods. To He-no, the Thunderer, was 
given the voice of admonition and instrument of vengeance as 
well as judgment in the bestowal of beneficent rains. Ga-oh was 
empowered with the direction of the winds; from their tangles he 
divided the breatli of the summer time from the frost of the winter. 
Other assistants distributed all the fruits, beans, squash and com, 
the last three having a triad of female "supporters" whose gen- 
erositN' is "thanked" at the annual Green Corn dance. In fact to 
all visible and invisible nature each had its guardian under the 
guiflancc of one supreme power. 

In Indian language there is no blasphemous or profane word. 
Their attitude toward the Great Spirit is venerative and dignified. 
In their various feasts religious dances are introduced in all of which 
there are interlu<les when the tenets of the ancient faitli are re- 
cited. These have descended from generati(jn to generation bv 
word only; there are no written records of the Indian religion. A 
young preacher is taught word for word and when he enters office 
he "remembers" and expounds to the people at the annual festivals. 
There are never any religious "uprisings" or "excitements." The 
law and w<M-tl are jiassed year by year, century after century, by 
the true f)agan preacher. In the "new religion" of the Iroquois. 
Ga-nio-dai-u, there is an interweave of modern ideas induced by 
the necessity of reform from e\ils introduced by the palefaces. 
But even in this "temperance" preaching nolliing has lieen accepted 
that was not consistent with their ])rimitive idea of justice and 
repentance. 

The Indian having no knowledge of a sacrificial atonement 
assumes the punishment of his own evil. The religious law governs 
this by a recital of his "sins" at the ]iul)lic .Ww War feast and a 
sin thus c<jnfessed is atoned for. Hv this came the use of the 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 1 33 

wampum known as the Ransom belt. If a murder has been com- 
mitted the murderer sent the Ransom belt to the nearest relatives 
of his victim with a petition for his life as he was "sorry." If the 
belt was returned lie submitted to his death sentence Avith the 
stoicism of his race. It never occurred to him that the Great 
Spirit could be appealed to for such forgiveness. He had an idea 
of punishment in an after life but it was of a material, not spiritual 
nature. The fundamental principle of his faith was a sublime 
belief in the immortality of the soul, which on entering its eternal 
life continued its former existence not progressively b}' the goodness 
of its mortal life nor in punishment for its omissions. A mortal 
evil was atoned for during the mortal life. Likewise a benevolent 
or religious act was rewarded by compensations while on earth. 

It is only by the intimate social acquaintance of the Indian, 
even of the present day, that his true religion is known. His moral 
laws, according to his own conception, are stringent. His family 
relationships are the universal spirit of affection and hospitality. 
His children arc taught obedience with their lessons of reverence 
to parents. Indians never punish their children. If a child runs 
too great riot they let him "get over it" first and then reason with 
him about it afterwards. Notwithstanding the labors of the Indian 
woman she is supreme in home authority, owns land in her own 
right and frequently continues her maiden name after marriage, 
which, bv Indian law, is a mvitual agreement for the man and 
woman to live together until one or the other "scolds too much." 
Incompatibility of temper argues a divorce if appealed for, as 
"quarreling is a bad example to the children," who, in case of a 
separation, are taken b}^ the mother, the family descent being 
from the maternal line. 

As an example of the moral commands of the Indian, I quote 
the following precepts which are imperatively enjoined: 

"It is the will of the Great Spirit that you reverence the aged 
even though they be as helpless as infants." 

"If you tie up the clothes of an orphan child the Great Spirit 
will notice it and reward you for it." 

"To adopt orphans and bring them up in virtuous ways is pleas- 
ing to the Great Spirit." 

"If a stranger wander about your abode, welcome him to your 
home, be hospitable to him, speak to him with kind words, and 
forget not alwaj's to mention the Great Spirit." 

As proof of the last precept at the latest census' there was but 

'The census of 1890 was used by Mrs Converse a-s a source of information. 



134 >»E\V YORK STATE MUSEUM 

one beggar or actually homeless person reported among the 4800 
Iroquois Indians of New York State and he was provided for by 
the old religious law. 

The Indian has been accused of indecent orgies. His dances 
have been condemned as corrupt and vicious. His secret societies 
are named as witchcrafts and satanisms of evil practices. In my 
investigations of their myths, mystics, their religion, and civil and 
home life, I have attended all these dances and have never seen 
one vulgar or indecent action. The Indian woman, by nature 
chaste, would scorn an immodest attire or the familiarity of the 
"fiddle dances" known as the waltzes of the palefaces. 

I have been admitted to several degrees of the Medicine Lodge, 
which is known to all American Indians, the Iroquois secret society, 
Xa-gah-ne-gah-ah; in its celebrations there is nothing malign. 
The ritual, thoroughly consistent with their religion, includes 
chants for the sick and dying and the dead who are yet " held in 
the arms of the Great Spirit." The principles upon which this 
medicine society is founded are charity, neighborly kindness and 
lessons for ministrations to the sick. Their chants are entirely 
free from human passions or grossness of superstitions. In fact if a 
member evidences a spirit of evil he is excluded from the meetings 
until he is "purified." 

The religious feasts of the Indian begin with the New Year 
usually in February, when he renews all promises of fidelity to the 
Great Spirit. This is followed by the Maple feast which occurs 
when the maple sap first flows. Tlicn follow the Berry feasts and 
in turn those of all fruits, each of which has its special dance and 
thanksgiving chant, until the final Green Corn dance. On this occa- 
sion the feast continues four days and embodies within its ritual 
thanksgiving for all the gifts of the Great Spirit. The smallest growth 
is not omitted in the recital, nor the least of the animal creation. 
These are the only occasions for their public religious meetings. 

In his home life the Indian never partakes of a meal that he 
does not first ask the blessing of the Great Spirit upon the repast 
and after eating never fails to thank him for the privilege of the 
food.' If he starts a friend on his journey the farewell is always 
an ajjpeal that the Great Spirit may guanl him to his home. 

The Indian believing the Great Spirit to be the God of the Imlian 
only, does not hold himself amenable to the law of any other 

' The devout Indian after he has finished his meal always says " Niawch," meaninK./om 
Ihtinkful. AlthouKh he npporcntly addressed the others at the table accordinR to his rc- 
iiK'ion in reality he is speaking to the Creator. The response of the people is " N'iuh! " 
riir^iiimK. i< ii uell. 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 1 35 

religion. He may be stimulated by observing the various moral 
laws of the white man but he will not incorporate within his own 
religion anything that is not consistent with his old faith. There- 
fore comes the term " Christian pagan," which signifies that the 
" converted " Indian has " adopted " the moral teachings of the 
" new " religion as a graft upon his inherited faith. 

He can not understand why the Christian religionists should be 
divided into so many " societies " while he has but one. He does 
not comprehend the efficacy of prayer for material things. 

In fact the entire social life of the Indian is imbued with religious 
sentiment. He despises a liar and distrusts the man who offers too 
much to him. A truer friend does not live than the Indian Avho 
will give his own bed and the largest end of his loaf as long as a 
friend tarries with him. A betrayal of confidence he never for- 
gives. Long years of dishonorable persecution have made him 
distrustful of every white man. Divested of his aboriginal do- 
mains he has been hunted into little corners and considered a 
tenant by privilege until extermination. In the name of humanity 
and history why are there not more of earnest workers who will 
investigate the Indian as he was? If he has constructed his own 
theology he has discovered the greatest truth of nature, the knowl- 
edge of a Supreme Ruler. By his conceptions of tribal fraternity 
he has become thoroughly indoctrinated with true humanity 
thus rivaling many of the highest virtues of civilized man. It has 
required the processes of centuries of evolution to transform the 
painted savage whom Caesar met in Britain into the EngUshman 
of today. What is the history of the four centuries of the evolution 
of the American Indian ? Save the few who have been defended and 
befriended and educated, the story is near its finale of a Christless 
not a Christian civilization. In this unequal and mournful struggle 
to preserve his inheritances and nationality the Indian is nearing 
the inexorable destiny to which he is doomed. 

WOMAN'S RIGHTS AMONG THE IROQUOIS 

Generations before the coming of the palefaces to this country, 
the Iroquois Indians had declared in the constitution of the 
Ho-de-no-sau-ne, the Confederacy of the Long House, that the 
" mother " or woman's rights should be included in the laws and be 
forever protected. 

While the primitive red man looked upon woman as subordinate 
rather than equal, by his law, through her he preserved his ties of 
consanguinity and tribal denomination. While he enforced obedi- 



13^) NKW YORK bTATI-: ML'SKUM 

ence to ami respect for his own rights and imposed many burdens 
on woman, yet. regarding ht-r civil ( l.iiins as s.h nd L.r legal rights 
were never interfered with 

All children were inheritors of the niothL-r's clan. The child, 
male or female, was son or daughter of its mother and not the 
inheritor of the clan rights of its father or " mother's husband." 
Thus, having no subdivisions of family branches, by the inter- 
marriage of maternal or paternal descendants, purity of clan 
descent was established and by tliis tribal law, nationality was 
never lost. If a Mohawk woman of the Wolf Clan married a Seneca, 
her children ami their descendants would l)c Mohawks of the Wolf 
Clan from generation to generation. 

To the mother only was given tlie care of her offspring during 
infancy and childhood, the formation of its character and govern- 
ment of its nature. During this time the father had no control or 
authority over the children. On arrixing at maturity the male 
child became the companion of his father f)n the warpath and 
hunt, and the female assumed her ci\il rights and home authoritv. 

If the wife possessed ])ropcrty and at marriage brought it to her 
new home, it still continued her own and she could dispose of it 
at her pleasure. 

By law of descent, the children, not being of the father's clan, 
would not inherit from him cither property or any title that lie may 
have held; to these the children of his sister or brother were heirs. 

Women negotiated all the marriages. There were cases when the 
elders of the clan would be consulted and their judgment considered 
but the last decision rested entirely with the mothers. The mother 
was also responsible for the married life of her children. When 
there were contentions it was her duty to judge upon them. If 
peace could not be established she decided that a separation must 
folhjw. As this was considered a disgrace her consent was not often 
given. If j)ossi])le the ccmtentious parties Avould be persuaded to 
reconciliati(jn. If after several councils the separation was con- 
sidered an al)solute necessity, by cause of incompatibility of temper, 
or refusal to recognize the marriage relation, a divorce was de- 
clared. The wife returned to the home of her mother taking with 
her her jjroj)erty and the children. She was held accountal)le in 
law for the faithful discharge of her duty to her children. 

If any family ha<l disputes of a domestic or financial nature the 
"mother " with other members of her clan was called for advice. 
By this convention of relatives the case was judged and the tlecision 
of this domestic court was final. 



Plate 7 




A miidcni Seneca nirl in Ikt .i^randniother's co>lunio 



Plate 8 




I Xominatinn l)c-U u>e(l 1)\ tlu' Seiioca women to confirm tlu- nomi- 
nation of the sachems which tlicy chose for office. This was the 
Seneca women's national belt. 

2 Hospitality or Welcome belt. Said to_ have been used in league 
councils by the presiding chief in welcoming the delegates. 



IROOUOIS MYTHS AND LKGENDS I37 

If, by the death of a sachem or chief, a summons was called for 
a general council or a condolence at that time new chiefs would be 
elected or " raised up " and sachems installed. In this election of 
chiefs the " mother " of the family in wliich the vacancy occurred, 
having the " name " of the office in her keeping could confer it upon 
any male of her own line of descent, whom she should regard as 
most reliable. It was her pro\-ince to decide all questions of 
nomination. She might consult each member of the household as 
to their judgment of the merit of the candidate, but her final word 
was autlioritative and gave the nomination. 

Invested with the power she could also depose or " knock the 
horns off " any chief who might be derelict in duty. At the great 
councils her act of deposition Avas invariably confirmed and her 
nominee elected. This law prevailed among all the tribes of the 
Six Nations. 

Of burial or " death feasts " women had full control. In religious 
feasts women or " matrons " were appointed to serve in the cere- 
monies with the men. On these occasions certain women were 
delegated to prepare the feast food and none others were per- 
mitted to assist. 

At the Green Corn festival, women, having charge of the fields, 
first gathered the corn and submitted it at the Council House to the 
Honondiont, or priests, who examined it and if it was sufficiently ripe 
decided when the feasts should be called. By order of the Honondi- 
ont runners would be sent with invitations from one nation to its 
neighboring nation until all had been requested to participate in 
the rites and social pleasures of the forthcoming festival. 

Women were keepers of certain wampum belts called "Chief" 
belts. These were sent by them to the great councils when a 
chief was to be raised and were legally recognized as the law. No 
attention was attached to any nomination unless confirmed by 
these wampum belts. As the Onondagas were the keepers of all 
the national and civil belts a sachem of this nation was the reader 
of all belts by which the law was interpreted. 

In their mythology the Iroquois have honored women as the 
guardian spirits of their plants, the corn, beans and squash. 

Unlike other primitive peoples, the descent falling by line of the 
mother blood, she continues united to the destinies of her own 
nation and tribe, and there is no loss of her identity by a marriage 
name ^- title thereof. This system of relationship, the main 
fabric of the League of the Iroquois, has been continued inviolate 
even to the present day by the descendants who yet linger as 
inheritors and observers of the old law. 



138 M:\\ YORK STATI-: MISKLM 

Labor and bunions may have been the condition of the Indian 
woman. She may seem to have l)een a creature only and not a 
eomjjanion of the red man, yet by e<»m])arison with the restric- 
tions, to characterize it by no stronj^'cr term, obtainini:; anions' 
civilized people, the Iroquois woman had a supcri(^)r position and 
superior rights. 

By political rij^hts she held power in makinj^j nominations and 
had a voice in all pviblit- councils. 

By social rights she nei^otiated niarria.t,'es and _i,'ovcrned house- 
holds. 

By maternal n,i,dit she controlled her own ofTs[)rinjf and l)e- 
stowed the clan title of her name upon their descendants forever. 

By civil rij.,dit she ruled in domestic convocations of clan dis- 
putes, of law anil order. 

By reli^dous ri^jht she had the controlling^ authority in all cere- 
monies of condolence, or festival and by ri^dit of confederacy law 
she possessed lands and ])roj)crties with the sole right to bequeath 
them to whomsoever siie mij.(ht choose. 

As the woman of today stands advocate and petitioner of her 
own cause, shouUl she not offer an oblation of gratitude to the 
memory of the Iroquois Indian who called the earth his " mighty 
mother " and who, through a sense of justice, rendered to the 
mothers of his people the rights maternal, political, social, civil, 
religious and of land! 

All these w'ere an Iroquois woman's rights. 

ORIGIN OF THE WAMPUM BELT 

Previous to the confederation of the Five Xatir)ns the Xcw York 
State Iroquois Indians were subjects of the Adirondatks. a family 
branch of the Algonquins who inhabited territones on the northern 
side of the St Lawrence river near the present location of Mon- 
treal. Originally, as one nation, they were few in number yet as 
they multiplied and. by example of the Adirondacks. became 
learne<l in the arts f)f husbandry and the strategies of war, they 
were ambitious of the ownersliij) of the country and made war upon 
the Adirondacks by whose fU'erpowering numbers they were van- 
quished. Defeated, and to escape extermination, they fled and, 
their traditions say, ])assing along the St Lawrence river entered 
Lake Ontario and coaste<l for a time on its eastern shores. Even- 
tually they moved on to what is now the central portion of the 
State of New \'ork where they met and conipuTt'd all the tribes 
resident in that territory which became their sole possession and, 
subscfjuently. the government .seat of their colos.sal confederacy. 



IROOUOIS MVrilS AND F.F.CF.XDS 



139 




Perforated wampum shells from 
central New York 



On tlicir final settlement the Iroquois, declaring severalt}' of 
estate possessions, di\i(l('(l into separate bands. The Oneidas and 
Onondagas, originall\- Diie nation, became independents and 
divided from each other. The Senecas and Cayugas, who had 
united, eventually drifted apart, and the Mohawks announced 
exclusive proprietorship of their own accumulated lands. From 
this disunion alienations followed which gradually resulted in an 
open warfare that was continued for generations. 

During this condition of hostility an inspiration of peace, sug- 
gesting unity of power by the confederation of the five nations, 
came to one of the wise men of the Onondaga nation, Da-ga-no-we- 
da, the founder of the League of the Iroquois. 

At that time the Onondagas were 
suffering the tyranny and cruelty of 
the ruling chief To-do-da-ho, who, as 
symbol of his dreaded power, was rep- 
resented crowned with living snakes, 
his fingers and toes terminating with 
the hissing monsters and, by the glance 
of his eye, turning to stone any one 
who dared deny his authority Da-ga- 
no-we-da, repelling this creature of horror, and conceiving a way 
of release for his people, sagaciously flattered the vanity of 
To-do-da-ho and, to perfect his plans, endeavored to enlist his 
favor as an associate. The crafty To-do-da-ho, consenting to 
a hearing, evoked a council fire, which was kindled from the 
willow, and summoned the nation to consider the project of Da-ga- 
no-we-da. In the sympathetic attention witli which the people 
listened to the persuasions of Da-ga-no-we-da, To-do-da-ho foresaw 
loss of his power and, with malevolent cunning, rejected the propo- 
sitions of Da-ga-no-we-da as an interference with the government 
and, threatening vengeance, expelled him from the council forever. 
The terrified Onondagas, dreading the despotic will of their monster 
chief, dared not sustain Da-ga-no-we-da who, sorroAving, left his 
people and journeyed " to the west of the rising sun " toward the 
land of the Mohawks. 

Notwithstanding his rejection, Da-ga-no-we-da was yet hopeful 
of the consummation of his project for uniting the five nations and 
in his travels while crossing a lake, supposed to be the Oneida, he 
noticed quantities of minute purple and white shells adhering to 
the paddle of his canoe. As he neared the shore he discovered them 
heaped in long rows upon the bank. These suggested to his con- 



140 NEW VttRK STATK MLSEL'M 

stnictive niiinl a pictorial representation of his thought of con- 
federating the divided nations by compact of mutual support and 
protection. He tilled his traveling pouches with a quantity of 
these shells and. in the frequent rests of his journey, strung them 
on threads shred from the sinews of the deer, and hanging them, 
string V)y string, eventually completed 

The first wampum belt 

The foundation of this belt was of the white shells and the pic- 
torial figures of the purple. Apportioned with exactness, as sign 
of the tribal territories, he wove five symbols that represented the 
cantons of the five nations, and with these he interwove five figures 
representing men clasping hamls as token of brotherly union. 
Besides this significant delineation, he formed other belts each 
representing some law. or fundamental principle, included in the 
ceremonies of council, civil proceedings, war, death, peace, instal- 
ment of chiefs, and all compacts necessary to the constitution of 
a confederated government. The white shells were symbolic of 
peace and the purple of mourning and war. Each belt was conse- 
crated to its specific purpose and Da-ga-no-we-da neared the land 
of the Mohawks strengthened by argument of these insignia of 
ceremonies which eventually served with effect as visible laws in 
the formation of that wondrous governmental structure, the 
Ho-de-no-sau-ne, or the League of the Iroquois. 

This tradition of the origin of the first wampum belt has been 
transmitted by the Iroquois from generation to generation and, 
as history, is (jne of the most prominent among their "grandfather 
stories." 

Belts of great age and inestinial)le value arc preserved and are 
yet in use among the Iroquois wherever the tribal government 
continues. These arc deposited as public records,' with the Onon- 
dagas, who are the " law^ makers " of the Six Nations, and are held 
in safe-keeping by the guarding sachem. Ho-no-we-na-to. the hered- 
itary " keeper of the wampum " whose office as expounder of the 
law. is to " read." or " talk " ])y the wanii)uni at all the councils. 

These belts of wampum, or Ote-ko-a, the symbols of law. are 
woven of purple and white cylindrical beads about three sixteenths 



'The national belts of the Iroquois were pas.seil into the kecpinKof the State Museum by 
the chiefs and sachems of the OnondaKas in June 1898. In January igo8 the chief of the 
OnondaKas, Sa-ha-whe (Baptist Thomas). siKned an indenture making the director of the 
State Museum the wampum keeper of the Five Nations and confcrrinK upon him and his 
•uccessors in office forever the title Mo-sa-na-Ka-da (Ho-sch-na-Rch-tch). Name Dearer, 
the official name for tht- w.impum keepi-r (.SVf .N. Y. Slate .Mus. jfh .An. Kt-p't Director] 



Plate 




Plate 10 




The lliawatha belt. coniiiU'iiKirritino- the f()un<lint>- of llio League of the 
Ircquois. 




'I'lie Cieorge Wasliington covenant belt, connnemorating the peace treaty 
witli the Iroquois and the United States ikning tlic presidency of Wash- 
ington. 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 



141 




Wing, or Dust Fan of the president of the council. 
This is an Onondaga national belt and the largest known. 
The design is said to represent an endlessly growing 
tree which symbolizes the perpetuity of the league. 



14- M-W VOKK STATK ML'SKUM 

of an inch in lenjjth, the white beads are made from the conch 
shell and the violet, or purple (called black by the Indians) from 
the purple spot in the clam shell. The beads of the most ancient 
belts are strunjj on twisted threads stripped from the inner bark 
of the elm and arranged in parallel lines separated by strinj^s of 
buckskin that are overtwisted with fine threads shred from deer 
sinews. 

At the tribal j^ovcrnment councils the wampum is read before 
action is taken in any contrf)versy. Upon the conveninji; of the 
covmcil a string of white wampum beads, about a foot in length, is 
passed from chief to chief, each holding it in his hands ior a moment ; 
it is then laid on a table in the form of a circle, the ends touching ; 
this signifies that the council is " open " and harmony prevails. 

During the session, if a " condolence " is " called," by reason of 
death, or the " raising " of a chief, a ceremony always preceded by a 
condolence, a string of purple wampum is laid by the side of the 
circled string, and soon the " laying down of the wampum strings " 
one after another, each with its own significance, denotes the nature 
of the business or discussion before the council that is subject to 
consent, or rejection, by vote of the chiefs wlio are members 
thereof. 

In the " old time," belts of the purple Avampum were symbols of 
death and, if adorned with red paint, or a red feather, signified 
war. These belts were also exchanged as ransom for a life or lives. 
Wampum beads, threaded in lengths varying from four inches to 
a foot, were used as messages of peace or war, a " peace string " 
of white beads was intrusted to a " runner," a swift footed Indian 
trained to endurance and speed, who each day, at sunset, made a 
notch in a small blade-shaped piece of willow wood attached to the 
string that, at the end of the journey, the chief to whom it was 
sent would know the number of <lays that had elapsetl during the 
conveyance of the message. 

All councils were "called " by a string of wamjjum sent from 
nation to nation, by a "runner" a])pointcd liy the governmental 
authorities at Onondaga. The Indian women, who had the power 
of nominating or deposing chiefs, the latter, commonly called 
" taking off their horns," were also custodians of distinctive belts 
that were sent to the seat of government as their decisions of law 
on occasions of their interference, or intercession, in politics or war. 
In fact no action of public council could be i)roposed or ratified 
unless " sealed " by the wampum, nor was any treaty, proffereil by 
the "paleface," recognized or considered valid until authorized by 
the exchange of wampvini belts. 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS I43 

As proof (if tills it is related that George Washington who, when 
a youth of twenty-one, was intrusted by the Colonial Governor of 
Virginia with a mission to the wilds of Pennsylvania, where the 
Canadian French were penetrating and seeking to unite the natives 
against us, found tliat an alliance had been formed and ratified by 
an exchange of wampum. Persuaded by the remonstrances of the 
ycjung Washington the Indian sachems consented to withdraw 
from the alliance but declared that the belt of wamjium must be 
returned before the agreement could be abolished and, until the 
token of the warlike compact was returned to the sachems by the 
French commander, the Indians would not proclaim their promise 
to take no part in the impending struggle. 

The finest belt in the collection of the Onondagas, and, as an 
example of construction, unsurpassed by any other in existence, 
is the "George Washington belt" which, by Iroquois history, was 
a covenant of peace exchange between the Indians and the gov- 
ernment during the presidency of George Washington.' This belt 
is 15 rows wide, each row includes 650 beads making a total of 
9750 contained in this historical belt. The groundwork is con- 
structed from the violet wampum ; in the center of the belt a house, 
with a well defined gable roof, and an open door, is woven of the 
white beads. From each side of the gable a " protecting " line 
extends above the figures of two men who, as "guardians of the 
door," in turn clasp hands with others of the same design until 15 
pictographic men stand side by side, 7 on the right side of the gable 
house and 8 on the left. The clasped hands, in accordance with 
the traditionary belt woven by Da-ga-no-we-da, signif\' unity and 
concord or "the unbroken chain of friendship." The gable house 
represents the government hall of the " paleface," and the open door, 
the conventional sign of the Iroquois, implies the hospitality of 
peace. The two figures at the immediate side of the gable house 
emblemize the (Indian) " keepers of the east and west doors," the 
limits of their territories, the other 13 pictographic figures symbolize 
the 13 colonies. 

The Pennsyh-ania Historical Society has in its possession a 
wampum l)clt, presented by a great grandson of William Penn, 
believed to be the original belt that was delivered by the Leni- 
Lenapi sachems to William Penn at the treaty held under the elm 
tree at Shackamaxon in 1682. In this belt, composed of 18 strings 
of wampum, the figure of a white man, represented by his costume 

' This bell is now the property of Hon. John Boyd Thacher of Albany. 



144 NF-^^' VORK STATK ML'SKUM 

and hat, is delineated as grasping hands in friendship with an Indian. 
There arc also three oblique bands of purple wampum, one on the 
right and two on the left of the figures; in the modern wampum 
the Indians explain these bands as " braces," the strengthening 
power of the treaty. These special shell wampum beads, found in 
the possession of the Iroquois Indians at the time of the Dutch 
discovery in 1600. were used as a medium of exchange among the 
various tribes. Shell beads, similar to these, were subsequently 
circulated by the traders among all the Iroquois people. 

Lawson in 17 14 [History of North Carolina] speaking of the use 
and value of wampum in New York, remarks that " an Englishman 
could not afford to make so much of this wampum for five or ten 
times the value; for it is made out of a vast great shell, of which 
that country affords plenty, and is ground smaller than the small 
end of a tobacco pipe or a large wheat straw ; the Indians grind these 
on stones and other things until they make them current, but the 
drilling is the most difficult to the Englishman, which the Indians 
manage with a nail stuck in a cane or reed. Thus they roll it con- 
tinually on their thighs with their right hand, holding the bit of 
shell with their left; so, in time, they drill a hole quite through it 
which is a very tedious work, but the Indians are a people that 
never value their time, so they can afford to make them, and never 
need to fear the English will take the trade out of their hands. 
This, being their money, entices and persuades them to do anything 
and part with everything they possess and with which you may 
buy skins, furs or any other thing except their children for slaves." 

Wampum is mentioned by Captain John Smith who found the 
young Indian women surrounding Powhatan " wearing great 
chains of white beads over their breasts and shoulders." 

Drake the historian, wrote that " King Philip had a coat all 
made of wampumpeag Avhich, when in need of money, he cut in 
pieces and distributed plentifully among the Nipmoog sachems 
and others." 

Father Loskiel, in 1723 found the Abenaki Indians ornamented 
with " beads made of a kind of shell, or stone, some white and 
some purple, which they form into story figures with great exact- 
ness." 

In a concluding reference to the Iroquois, also as an ex- 
ample of the " talk to the wampum." in treaty exchanges 
of belts, I quote from an account of a council luld l)y tlie 
Five Nations at Onondaga nearly two hundred years ago, 
to which the Governor of Canada sent four representatives : 



IROQUOIS MYTHS A\D LEGENDS 145 

"... during the course of the proceedings Cannehoot, a Wa- 
gun-ha sachem, presented a proposed treaty between the Wa-gun- 
has and the Senecas, speaking as follows: ' We come to join the 
two bodies into one. We come to learn wisdom of the Senecas 
(giving a belt). We, by this belt, wipe away the tears from the 
eyes of your friends, whose relations have been killed in the war. 
We likewise wipe the paint from your soldiers' faces (giving a 
second belt). We throw aside the ax which Yon-on-di-o put into 
our hands by this third belt.' A red marble sun is presented, a 
pipe made of red marble. ' Yon-on di-o is drunk; we wash our 
hands clean from his actions (gi\ing a fourth belt). We have 
twelve of your nation prisonevs; they slid I- be brought home in 
the spring (giving a belt to confirm the pi 'inise). We will bring 
your prisoners home 'hen the strawberries shall be in blossom, at 
which time we intend to visit Corlcar (the Governor of New York).' 
The belts were accepted b^, the Five Nations and their acceptance 
was a ratification of the treaty. A large belt was also given to 
he messengers from AHjany as their share. A wampum belt sent 
r*" \'!)an\ w^^ in the same manner, hung up and afterwards 

ORIGIN OF THE GAME OF LACROSSE 

Lri< i ose, now so commonly adopted as a favorite game among 
Ictes in all countries, originated with the North American 
ndians who played it centuries before the discovery of America. 
_'he oldest detailed description of the game was given by Nicolas 
'errot, a trader and government agent employed by the French 
/hen Canada was a French colony. From 1662 to 1669, Nicolas 
'errot wrote various accounts of this game which cover a very 
early period of history and they are doubly interesting in com- 
parison with games of the present time. In 1662, Perrot writes: 
The savages have a certain game of ' cross ' which is very similar 
our tennis. They match tribe against tribe and if their number 
re not equal they withdraw some of the men from the stronger 
ide. They are all armed with a ' cross,' a stick which has a large 
ortion at the bottom laced like a racket. The ball with which 
hey play is of wood and nearly the shape of a turkey's egg. It is 
he rule of the contest that after a side has won two goals, they 
hange sides of the field with their opponents, and that two out 
■f three or three out of five goals decide the game." 

Abbe Ferland, says of this game: " Men, women and girls are 
received on the sides in these games which begin at the melting of 



14'* NKW YORK <TATI-: NfrSKTM 

inc KL- and continue ai iiiii.r\ais umii har\csi nine. He also men- 
tions the fact that the anus and legs of the players were frequent- 
ly broken, some crippled for life, and that many were killed in the 
contest. A death in this game was more often the result of ob- 
stinacy than lack of skill, the dead man having held his ball too 
long and inviting death, and liis body was carried to his cabin 
in disgrace. 

When injured, the sufferer made no complaint, attributing his 
mishap to the chances of the game, and harboring no ill will. If 
a perscm not in the game nor betting on the result should throw 
the ball to the advantage of either side, he would be punished 
with death if not relieved of intent by a council of the chiefs. 

In 1636, Father Broebeuf, a missionary among the Hurons, notes 
the game as " Bagga-tie-way," or " le jeu de la crosse." 

La Potherie mentioned a game in which the number of players 
engaged was estimated at iooo. 

La Ronton says, " village being pitted aj,'.iinst village, the lacrosse 
is commonly played in large companies of three or four hundred 
players." 

When a famine or epidemic threatened the people, the medicine 
men would order a game of lacrosse to be played to propitiate 
the spirits. In this game all the players participated, engaging 
in religious dances and ceremonies at the end of each game. 

It was necessary that all the people, young and old, women and 
men. should attend this game. Some were chosen to personate the 
evil spirits and receive punishment, and should a death ensue it 
was deemed a favorable omen. 

Lacrosse figured prominently on all occasions of importance, 
and was the proper courtesy in all ceremonies attending the enter- 
tainment of distinguished guests. 

In 1667, Perrot, then the agent of the French government, was 
received with ver>' formal ceremony by the Maumi Indians, lo- 
cated near Sault Ste Marie, ami lacrosse was played by the entire 
tribe. 

Great rivalry existed througiiout the various tribes. The game 
for championship was an exciting event and was introduced with 
much formality. 

For days preceding the play, the people engaged in prayers to the 
Great Spirit, invtjking his aid, and the players fasted the last day antl 
night. 

To inure the young warriors to the fatigue of battle, the frequent 
playing of the game was an enforced exercise, which also taught 
them the tactics oi attack and defense. 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS I47 

Further, it was deemed of value as a remedial exercise for many 
ills, and induced the aid of the sorcerers of life wlio could hasten 
the return to health. 

Stephen Powers found lacrosse among the California Indians. 
Of his early discoveries among the Pomas Indians, in Russian river 
valley, he writes: " They played it (lacrosse) with a ball rounded 
out of an oak knot, propelled by a racket constructed of a long 
slender stick bent double and bound together leaving a circular 
hoop at the end, across which is woven a coarse mesh w^ork of 
strings. Such an instrument is not strong enough to bat the ball 
but simply to shove or thrust it along the ground." 

Bernard Romaine in 1776 writes of the goals of this game, " they 
fix two poles across each other at about one hundred and fifty 
feet apart." 

•■., Bossu noted that "the Choctaws play with only one goal. The 
players agree upon an aim, about sixty yards off, distinguished by 
two poles, between which the ball must pass." 

La Honton estimated the distance between the goals at five or 
six hundred paces. Charlevoix places the goals in a game with 
eighty players, at half a league apart. Alexander Henry, in 1809, 
w^riting of the game in northern Canada, mentioned one mile as the 
distance between the goals. Paul Kane says " the goals of the 
Chinooks, Crees, Chippawas and Sioux are one mile apart, and one 
hundred players on a side." Domench wrote " the players were 
costumed with short drawers, or rather a belt, the body being first 
daubed with a layer of bright colors. From the belt which is short 
enough to leave the thigh free, hangs a long animal tail. Round 
their necks is a necklace of animals' teeth to which is attached a 
floating mane dyed red, as is the tail, falling as a fringe over the 
chest and shoulders." He adds: " Some tribes play with two sticks 
and the game is played on the ice. The ball is made of wood or 
brick, covered with kid skin leather curiously interwoven." 

Schoolcraft describes the game as played in the winter on the 
ice; and Catlin has illustrated the Dacotahs in their ice game. 
Adair wrote that the southern Indians played " with two rackets, 
between which the ball was caught. These sticks were neces- 
sarily shorter than those of the northern Indians, being about two 
feet long. With these they threw the ball a great distance. The 
Choctaws also used two rackets. The Pacific coast Indians started 
the game by throwing into the air a ball of doeskin. This ball was 
always thrown by a woman selected for her beauty." 

One historical fact of lacrosse figures in the frontier wars of 1763, 



148 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 

when the noted Indian, Pontiac, planned a surprise for destroying 
the scattered forts held by the English on the northwestern frontier. 
On the 4th of June of that year, the garrison at Fort Michili- 
mackinac, unconscious of their impending fate, had left the fort, 
attracted by an Indian game of lacrosse. Utterly absorbed in the 
game, they were unmindful of the movements of the Indians. 
Soon a ball \v,i< thrown from the field, dropping within the pickets 
of the fort. 

This was the Indian's signal. Running as if to regain the ball, 
they pressed on, forcing their way into the fort and swinging their 
tomahawks (which the women had carried concealed under their 
blankets), fell upon the English witli sucli fury ihnt, it is said, not a 
single one escaped. 

Lacrosse has undergone many changes since i)rimitive Indian 
days. Now fourteen or fifteen players comprise a team; the ball, 
early of wood and later replaced by one made of scraped and 
moistened deerskin, stuffed hard with deer's hair and sewed with 
sinew, would hardly find place with modern players; and the early 
curved stick with its crude strappings would illy compare with 
the symmetrical curved hoop and artistic netting so prized by its 
wielders. 

Many of the modern sticks are still made by Indians. There is a 
factory on the St Regis Indian Reservation, employing Indians, 
where the sticks are made by machinery, but the handmade sticks 
of the Iroquois are considered the best of Indian make. 

On the Grand River Reservation, in Canada, there lives an old 
Seneca Indian chief who, though totally blind, is famous for his 
sticks, from the sale of which he derives a fair income. 

As to the origin of the certainly Indian game, different Indian 
nations claim it, the strongest claim being made by the Iroquois 
of New York State and Canada. But it must remain a ve.xed ques- 
tion for our Indianologists. 



IROOUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 



149 



NEH HO-NOH-TCT-NOH-GAH, THE GUARDIANS OF THE 
LITTLE WATERS, A SENECA MEDICINE SOCIETY' 

BY 
A. C. PARKER 

(Ga-wa-so-wa-neh) 

The most important and influential fraternity among the present 
day Senecas is the Ho-noh-tci-noh-gah, commonly called the Secret 
Medicine Society. The Ho-noh-tci-noh-gah, literally, guardian 
spirits, is a fraternal organization instituted primarily to preserve 
and perform the ancient rites deemed necessary for preserving 
the potency of the ni-ga-ni-ga-ah, literally, little waters, popularly 




An old medicine woman 
Reproduced by courtesy of Metropolitan Magazine 

called the secret medicine, and the method of its administration. 
Of the twelve native societies that have survived among the 
Senecas none remains more exclusive, more secret or so rigidly 
adheres to its ancient forms. No brotherhood among the Senecas is 
so strong nor does any other hang so well together. There is never 
internal dissension nor jealousy and never any division of opinion. 
Unanimity is the rule in all things and discord of any kind would 
be in variance with the very fundamental teachings of the order. No 
organization among the Senecas today is so mysterious, nor does 
any other possess the means of enforcing so rigorously its laws. The 
Ho-noh-tci-noh-gah is without doubt a society of great antiquity, 

*This article has been written, so far as possible, from the standpoint of the Indian. 



150 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 

few Iroquois societies, perhaps, are more venerable. One authority 
has contended that it is a tribal branch of an organization found 
everywhere among Indians thrL»ughout the continent and produced 
good arguments to support the tiieory, but an examination of its 
traditions and ritual would lead to the opinion that it is purely 
Iroquois. No doubt similar organizations existed and perhaps 
were affiliated with it, but it docs not seem probable that it should 
have been widely found. 

In order to understand the organization it is necessary first to 
understand the legend of its origin when many othervvise obscure 
allusions will be made apparent. The legend follows: 

Origin of the Little Water Medicine Society 

AS RELATED BY CHIEF E. CORNPLANTER ' 

There was in old limes a young chief wlio was a hunter of great 
cunning, but though he killed many animals he never took ad- 
vantage of their positions. He never shot a swimming deer nor 
a doe with a fawn ; he never killed an animal fatigued by a long run 
nor took one unawares. Before the hunt he always threw tobacco 
and made a ceremony to ask permission to kill game. Nor was 
he ever ungrateful to the animals of the woods who had been his 
friends for so many years. The flesh that was useless he left for 
the wolves and birds, calling to them as he left it, " Come, my 
friends. I have made a feast for you." Likewise when he took 
honey from a tree he left a portion for the Vjcars and when he had 
his corn harvested he left open ears in the field for the crows, that 
they might not steal the corn sprouts at the next planting. He 
fed the fish and water animals with entrails and offal. No ruthless 
hunter was he, but thoughtful. He threw toljacco for the animals 
in the woods and water and made incense for them with tlie o-yauk- 
iva-o-iL'ch, the sacred tobacco and burnt it even for the trees. He 
was a well loved chief for he remembered his friends and gave them 
meat. All the animals were his friends and all his people were 
loyal to him. All this was because he was good and he was known 
£s the " protector of the birds anil beasts." So he was called. 

The s(»uthwest country is a land of mysteries. There are many 
unknown things in the mountains there and also in the waters. 
The wildest people have always lived there and some were very 
wise and made different things. \\'hen, many years ago, the 

' The active nicmbfrship in the orilcr is hinited to actual holders of the mystery packet. 
In order that the writer might become a full member, Curnplauter resigned and surrend- 
ered hik packet to him. 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS I5I 

Ongwehoweh, (Iroquois) began to make excursions to this distant 
country they encountered many nations that were friendly and 
more that were hostile. The Iroquois used to Uke to go in this 
country for there they learned new things and found new plants 
and new kinds of corn and beans and when they would fight and 
destroy a tribe they would carry away curiously made things 
and some captives back to the Ho-de-no-sau-ne, their own country. 

While one of these exploring parties was in the far southwest 
looking for war and new things, a band of very savage people 
attacked them. The young chief, the friend of the animals was 
with the party and being separated from the rest of his party was 
struck down by a tomahawk blow. The enemy cut a circle around 
his scalp lock and tore it off. He could not fight strong because 
he was tired and very hungry from the long journey, so he was 
killed. The enemy knew him because he had been a brave 
fighter and killed a good many of their people in former battles 
so they were glad when they killed him and prized his scalp. Now 
he lay dead in a thicket and none of his warriors knew where he 
was but the enemy showed them his scalp. So they knew that he 
was dead. 

Black night came and alone upon the red and yellow leaves the 
chief lay dead and his blood was clotted upon the leaves where it 
had spilled. The night birds scented the blood and hovered over 
the body, the owl and the whip-poor-will flew above it and Sha- 
dahgeah, the Dew Eagle, swooped down from the regions above the 
clouds. " He seems to be a friend," they said, " who can this 
man be?" A wolf sniffed the air and thought he smelled food. 
Skulking through the trees he came upon the body, dead and 
scalped. His nose was upon the clotted blood and he liked 
blood. Then he looked into the face of the dead man and leapt 
back with a long yelping howl, the dead man was the friend of 
the wolves and the animals and birds. His howl was a signal call 
and brought all the animals of the big woods and the birds dropped 
down around him. All the medicine animals came, the bear, the 
deer, the fox, the beaver, the otter, the turtle and the big horned 
deer (moose). Now the birds around him were the owl, the whip- 
poor-will, the crow, the buzzard, the swift hawk, the eagle, the 
snipe, the white heron and also the great chief of all the birds, 
Shadahgeah, who is the eagle who flies in the world of our Creator 
above the clouds. These are all the great medicine people and 
they came in council about their killed friend. Then they said, 
"He must not be lost to us. We must restore him to life again." Then 



152 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 

a bird said, " He is our friend, he always fed us. We can not allow 
our friend to die. We must restore him." Then the wolf came 
up to the bodv and said, " Here is our friend, he always gave us 
food in time of famine. We called him our father, now we are 
orphans. It is our duty to give him life again. Let each one of 
us look in our medicine packets and take out the most potent 
ingredient. Then let us compound a medicine and give it." Then 
the owl said, "A living man must have a scalp." 

So the animals made a wonderful medicine and in its preparation 
some gave their own lives and mixed them with the medicine 
roots. Xow when the medicine was made all of it was contained 
in the bowl of an acorn. So they poured it down the throat of the 
man. and the bear feeling over the body found a warm spot over his 
heart. Then the bear hugged him close in his hairy arms and 
kept him wami. The crow had flown away for the scalp but 
could not find it ; then the white heron went but while flying over 
a bean held thought herself hungry and stopped to eat and when 
filled was too heavy to rise again. Then the pigeon hawk, the 
swiftest of the birds, said that he would go and surely find it. By 
this time the enemy had become aware that the animals were 
holding a council over the chief whom they had slain and so 
they carefully guarded the scalp which they stretched upon a hoop 
and swung on a thong over the smoke hole of a lodge. The pigeon 
hawk, impatient at delay, shot upward into the air and flying in 
wide circles discovered the scalp dangling over the fire drying in 
the hot smoke. Hovering over the lodge, for a moment he dropped 
down and snatching the scalp shot back upwards into the clouds, 
faster and further than the arrows that pursued him swift from 
the strong bows of the angered enemy. Back he flew, his speed 
undiminished by his long flight, and placed the scalp in the midst 
of the council. It was smoky and dried and would not fit the 
head of the man. Then a big crow (buzzard) emptied his stomach 
on it to clean it of smoke and make it stick fast and Sliadalii^eaJi 
plucked a feather from his wing and dipped it in the pool of dew 
that rests in the hollow on his back and sprinkled the water upon 
it. The dew came down in round drops and refreshed the drv 
scalp as it does a withered leaf. The man had begun to faintly 
breathe when the animals i)laced the scalp back in his head and 
they saw that truly he wcjuld revive. Then the man felt a warm 
liquid trickling down his throat and with his eyes yet shut he began to 
talk the language of the birds and animals. And they sang a 
wuiidi-rful soinr .-Mid ]\i' li\ti-ii<'i1 .iiicl n-memlxTr'l cvcrv word of the 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 1 53 

song. This song the animals told him was the medicine song of 
the medicine animals and they told him that when he wished the 
favor of the great medicine people and when he felt grateful, to 
make a ceremony and sing the song. So also they told him that 
they had a dance and a dance song and they told him that they 
would teach him the dance. So they danced and some shook 
rattles made of squashes (gourds) , and though his eyes were closed 
he saw the dance and he knew all the tunes. Then the animals 
told him to form a company of his friends and upon certain occa- 
sions to sing and dance the ceremony, the Yedos, for it was a great 
medicine power and called all the medicine animals together and 
when the people were sick they would devise a medicine for them. 
Now they said that he must not fail to perform the ceremony and 
throw tobacco for them. Now the name of the society was Yedos. 
Then the chief asked the medicine people what the ingredients of 
the medicine were and they promised to tell him. At a time the 
animals should choose they would notify him by the medicine 
song. Now he could not receive the secret because he had been 
married. Only Ho-yah-di-wa-doh, virgin men, may receive the first 
knowledge of mysteries. Now the chief greatly washed for the 
medicine for he thought it would be a great charm and a cure for 
the wounds received in war. After a time the chief was lifted to 
his feet by the hand of the bear and then he recovered his full life 
and when he opened his eyes he found himself alone in the midst 
of a circle of tracks. He made his way back to his people and 
related his adventure. He gathered his warriors together and in a 
secret place sang the medicine song of the animals, the Yedos. 
So they sang the song and each had a song and they danced. 

After some time the chiefs decided to send another war party 
against the enemy in the southwest and to punish the hostile 
people who were attacking them. Then the friend of the birds 
and animals said, "It is well that we destroy them for they are 
not a reasonable people," and so he went with his party. 

Now after a certain number of days the party stopped in an 
opening in the forest to replenish their stock of food. The place 
where they stopped was grassy and good for camp. Now a 
short distance away, a half day's journey, was a deer lick and near it 
a clear spring and a brook that ran from it and to this place all the 
animals came to drink. The part}^ wanted fresh meat and so dis- 
patched two young men, Plo-yah-di-wa-doh. to the lick for game. 
As they approached it they heard the sound of a distant song and 
drawing near the lick they sat down on the bank over the spring 



1^4 M-w ^•(lKK siAiK Mrsi:rM 

and listened to the song. It was a most wonderful song and floated 
through the air to them. At a distance away the animals came and 
drank but so entranced were they by the music that they killed 
none. Through the entire night they sat listening to the song, and 
listening they learned sections of the song. In the morning they 
returned to the camp and reported what they had heard to their 
chief. Then said the chief, " That song is for the good of the 
medicine. You must find the source of the song and discover the 
medicine that will make us powerful in war and cure all our ills. 
You must purge yourselves and go again on the morrow." So the 
young men did as directed and went again to the spring and threw 
tobacco upon its surface. As night came on they listened and again 
heard the great song and it was louder and more distinct than 
before. Then they heard a voice singing from the air and telling 
them a story of their lives and they marveled greatly. The song 
grew louder and as they listened they discovered that it emanated 
from the summit of a mountain. So they returned in the morning 
and reported to their chief and sang to him parts of the song. Then 
he said, " You must cleanse yourselves again and this time do not 
return until you have the medicine, the song and the mj-stery." 
So the young men cleansed themselves again and went to the spring 
and as the thick night came on they heard the singing voices clear 
and loud ringing from the mountain top. Then said one of the 
young men, " Let us follow the sound to its source," and they 
started in the darkness. After a time they stumbled upon a wind- 
fall, a place where the trees had been blown down in a tangled 
mass. It was a difficult place to pass in the darkness for they were 
often entrapped in the branches but they persevered and it seemed 
that someone was leading them. Beings seemed to be all about 
them yet they could not see them for it was dark. After they had 
extricated themselves from the windfall they went into a morass 
where their footsteps were guided by the unseen medicine animals. 
Now the journey was a very tedious one and they could see nothing. 
They approached a gulf and one said, " Let us go up and down the 
gulf and try to cross it," and they did and crossed one gulf. Soon 
they came to another where they heard the roaring of a cataract 
and the rushing of waters. It was a terrifying place and one of the 
young men was almost afraid. They dcscen(le(l the slope and came 
to a swift river and its waters were very cold but they plunged in 
and would have been lost if someone unseen had not guided them. 
So they crossed over and on the other side was a steep mountain 
which they must ascend but ctnild not because it was too steep. 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 1 55 

Then one of the young men said, " Let us wait here awhile and rest 
ourselves for we may need our strength for greater dangers." 
So he said. But the other said, " I am rested; we must go onward 
somehow." When he had so spoken a light came flying over and 
sang for them to follow it. So they followed the winged light and 
ascended the mountain and the}' were helped. The winged Hght 
kept singing, " Follow me, follow me, follow me! " And they were 
safe when they followed and were not afraid. Now the singing, 
flying beacon was the whip-poor-will. He led them. After a time 
the light disappeared but they struggled up the mountainside 
unaided by its guidance. The way became very stony and it seemed 
that no one was helping them now and then they wished that 
their unseen friends would help them, so they made a prayer and 
threw sacred tobacco on the path. Then the light came again and 
it was brighter, it glowed like the morning and the way was lighted 
up. The singing continued all this while and they were nearing 
its source and they reached the top of the mountain. They looked 
about for they heard the song near at hand but there was no one 
there. Thenthey looked about and saw nothing but a great stalk of 
corn springing from a flat rock. Its four roots stretched in the four 
directions, north, east, south and west. The roots lay that way. 
They listened and discovered that the music emanated from the 
cornstalk. It was wonderful. The corn was a medicine plant and 
life was within it. Then the winged light sang for them to cut the 
root and take a piece for medicine. So they made a tobacco offering 
and cut the root. As they did red blood flowed out from the cut 
like human blood and then the cut immediately healed. Then did 
the unseen speaker say, " This root is a great medicine and now we 
will reveal the secret of the medicine." So the voices told them the 
composition of the medicine that had healed the chief and instructed 
them how to use it. They taught the young men the Ga-no-dah, 
the medicine song that would make the medicine strong and preserve 
it. They said that unless the song were sung the medicine would 
become weak and the animals would become angry because of the 
neglect of the ceremonies that honored their medicine. There- 
fore, the holders of the medicine must sing the all-night song for 
it. And they told them all the laws of the medicine and the sing- 
ing light guided them back to the spring and it was morning then. 
The young men returned to their chief and told him the full story 
of their experiences and he was glad for he said, " The medicine 
will heal all our wounds." 

It was true, the medicine healed the cuts and wounds made by 



156 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 

arrows and knives and not one of the Iroquois was killed in their 
battle with the enemy. When they returned home the chief or- 
ganized the lodges of the medicine and the medicine people of the 
Ye-dosand Ni-ga-ni-ga-ah were called the Ho-noh-tci-noh-gah. The 
medicine was called the Xi-ga-ni-ga-ah (little waters) because its 
dose was so small. 

So started the Ho-noh-tci-noh-gah.' The legend here ends. 

Neh Ni-ga-ni-ga-ah 

The charm medicine is known as the Ni-ga-ni-ga-ah and each 
member possesses a certain amount of it. The secret of compound- 
ing the Ni-ga-ni-ga-ah rested with only one man in a tribe who, 
according to the teachings of the society, would be apprised of 
approaching death and given time to transmit the knowledge to 
a successor whom he should choose. According to the traditions 
of the Ho-noh-tci-noh-gah the secret holder always foreknew the 
hour of his death and frequently referred to it in lodge meetings. 

It is not my purpose to violate any confidence reposed in me 
by the Ho-noh-tci-noh-gah who have honored me by a seat in their 
circle and I will betray nothing when I say that the " little water 
medicine " is composed of the brains of various mammals, birds, 
fish, and other animals and the pollen and roots of various plants, 
trees and vegetables. These ingredients are compounded and pul- 
verized w'ith certain other substances and constitute the base of 
the Ni-ga-ni-ga-ah. 

That this medicine actually possesses chemical properties that 
react on human tissue was proven by Dr J. H. Salisbury, an eminent 
physician and a former State chemist, who analyzed and experi- 
mented with a small quantity that he had secured from a member 
of the society. 

The medicine itself is of a yellowish hue and when opened in the 
dark appears luminous, probably from the organic phosphorous 
that it contains. The utmost caution is employed by the members 
of the Ho-noh-tci-noh-gah to preserve the medicine from exposure 
to the air in unsafe places and from contaminating influences. 
It is contained in a small skin bag and wrapped in many coverings 
of cloth and skin and finally inclosed in a- bark, wood or tin case 
to keep it free from moisture, disease and dirt. 

Among the Senecas of modern times, John Patterson was the 
last of the holders of the secret and the secret of the precise method 

■ Hcuuchamp in Aitwriian Folk Lore J ou mil. volume 14, |>:iKc 158 says the OnondaK.is 
call the kocicty. The Ka-noaf-lah. This refers to the name of the song which is Oa-no'-da in 
Seneca, ami nut t'> the society. 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS I57 

of compounding the medicine died with him, he in some way having 
failed to instruct a successor. The members thus doubly guard 
their medicine and arc loath to use it except in cases of extreme 
necessity for when it is exhausted not only will they be unable tc 
secure more but by a legend when the medicine is gone the 
Senccas will forcv'cr lose their identity as Indians. 

Method of administering the Ni-ga-ni-ga-ah 
A person who wishes to have the " little water " medicine given 
to him for the cure of a wound, broken bone or specific disease 
must purge himself and for three days abstain from the use of salt 
or grease. His food must be the flesh of white birds or animals 
and only the white portions. The system of the patient is then 
ready to receive the medicine. The medicine man comes to his 
lodge and an assistant searches the house for anything that might 
destroy the "life" of the medicine such as household animals, 
vermin, decayed meat, blood, soiled garments, women in a periodic 
condition, etc. These things removed from the house, the patient 
is screened off and the guard patrols the premises warning away 
all infected or intoxicated persons. An attendant who has previ- 
ously been dispatched to a clear running stream enters with a bowl 
of water that has been dipped from the crest of the ripples, as they 
" sang their way down the water road." Not to antagonize the 
forces in the water, it was dipped the way the current ran, down 
stream, and not upward against it. 

Everything now being in readiness the medicine man takes a 
basket of tobacco and as he repeats the ancient formula he casts 
pinches of the tobacco into the flames that the sacred smoke may 
lift his words to the Maker of All. The water is then poured out 
in a cup and the medicine packet opened. With a miniature ladle 
that holds as much of the powder as can be held on the tip of the 
blade of a small penknife, the medicine man dips three times 
from the medicine and drops the powder on the surface of the 
water in three spots, the points of a triangle. If the medicine 
floats the omen is good, if it clouds the water the results are con- 
sidered doubtful and if it sinks speedy death is predicted as a 
certaint}^ and the remaining medicine is thrown away. In the 
case of severe cuts or contusions and broken bones the medicated 
water is sprinkled upon the affected part and an amount is taken 
internally. A medicine song is then chanted by the " doctor " 
who accompanies himself with a gourd rattle. After the ceremony 
of healing, the people of the house partake of a feast of fruit, and 



158 NEW YORK STATE ML'SEUM 

the medicine man departs ^vith his fee, a pincli of sacred tobacco. 
The following description of the house ceremony from the lips of 
a Seneca will not be out of place. The story is related exactly 
as it came from the tongue of the interpreter. 

Jesse Hill speaking: " Mother scraped off basswood bark, 
soaked it in water and wrapped it around my leg. Next day we sent 
for the medicine man. He came at sunset and sent to the creek 
for fresh water to be dipped where the current was swift, with a 
pail not against the current. Poured some in a teacup and pulled 
out the medicine bag. Opened it with a chamied shovel not 
much larger than a pin. Dipped three times. Cup of water. 
Floated. Go up or down. Understand it was good medicine. 
Took some in his mouth and sprayed it on my leg.' Told motlier 
to put a curtain around my bed so no one could see me. If any 
one saw any part of my body, medicine would do no good. Soon 
came dark. All the animals were put out. Took tin pail and 
made fire. Put in center of room and all sat around in silence. 
Medicine man made prayer. Scattered tobacco mother had pre- 
pared over fire. Took rattle made of gourd and chanted medicine 
song loud and louder. Half hour pain had gone. Boiled dif- 
ferent fruits together till soft. Put kettle where all could help 
out with little dipper. Left two doses of medicine. Eat nothing 
but white things. White of egg of chicken had white featliers 
and eat chicken if wliite. Five or six days spoke things. All 
certain took pain away." 

The medicine lodge ritual 

The Ho-noh-tci-noh-gah "sits," that is, holds lodge meetings, 
four times each year; in midwinter, when the deer sheds its hair, 
when the strawberries are ripe and when corn is ripe for eating. 
At these ceremonies each member brings his or licr medicine to be 
sung for and if unable to be present sends it. 

Only members know the exact place and time of meeting. At 
the entrance of the medicine lodge, now a private house of a mem- 
ber chosen for the ceremony, a guard is stationed who scrutinizes 
each person who attempts to pass within. Across the door within 
is placed a heavy bench " manned " by several stalwart youths who, 
should a person not entitled to see the interior of the lodge appear, 
would throw their weight against the bench and force the door 

'The JcHuiU described a similar ceremony among the Hurons in 1640. In the Rtlation 
■ ' ■'--■• nn account of the medicine water as used by the Onondoffas. 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 



159 



shut leaving the unfortunate intruder to the mercy of the outside 
guards and incoming members. 

Each member entering the lodge has with him his medicine, a 
quantity of tobacco, a pipe and perhaps a rattle although most of 
the lodge rattles are in the keeping of a Ho-non-di-ont or officer. 



Ir- .,' ,'^ V,^ r' 




>TOMCis< g Ely en 







^A'(J w£_V 




M^^ 



Oure/^ }^ooM 



■-^' J" i^ -< ' 1 



QUTEK, Door, 
Outline plan of Little Water Lodge 

As the members enter the room they deposit their contribution of 
tobacco in a husk basket placed for the purpose on a table at one 
side and then put their medicine packets beside the basket of the 
sacred herb. 

The ceremony proper commences about up. m. in the summer 
and in winter an hour earlier and lasts until daybreak. The feast 
makers enter the lodge several hours previous to the ceremonv and 
cook the food for the feast and prepare the strawberry wine. 



l6o NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 

Tlie seats in the lodge are arrantjed around the sides of the room 
Icavinj,' the center «)f the room open. 

When all is in readiness a Ho-non-di-ont takes a basket of sacred 
tobacco, 0-yan-kwa o-weh, and, as he chants the opening cere- 
mony he casts the sacred herb into the smoldering coals. The 
lights are all burning and the members are in their seats, tlie only 
exception being the feast makers whose duties require tlieir atten- 
tion at the fireplace. 

From the manuscript notes of .Mrs Harriet Maxwell Converse, I 
tind the following translation of tlie " Line around the Fire Cere- 
mony." 

The Line around the Fire Cercnnony 

The Singer, (to the members): "This is the line around tiie 
fire ceremony. Now I have asked blessings and made prayer." 

The Singer sprinkles sacred tobacco on the fire. 

The Singer speaks to the invisible powers: 
" Now I give you incense, ^ 
You, the Great Darkness! 
You, our great grandparents, here tonight, 
We offer you incense ! 

We assemble at certain times in the year 
That this may be done. 
We trust that all believe in this medicine. 
For all are invited to partake of this medicine. 
(Now one has resigned. We ask you to let him 
off in a friendly manner. Give him good luck and take 
care that his friends remain faithful!) 
(To the Thunder Spirit) 

Now we offer you this incense! 
Some have had ill luck 
Endeavoring to give a human being. 
We hope you will take hold 
And help your grandchildren, 
Nor be discouraged in us I 
Now we act as we offer you incense! 
You love it the most of all offerings. 
With it you will hear us better 
And n(jt tire of our talking. 
But love us with all jxnver 
Beycmd all treasures 
Or spreading your words through the air! 

> In all ca*os the word here translated "incense" should read lubacco. 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS l6l 

All men traveling under the great heavens 

Vou have invited, your grandchildren and all nations ! 

Oh you, that make the noise, 

Vou, the great Thunderer! 

Your grandchildren wish to thank you ! 

All your grandchildren have asked me 

To ofifer this incense upon the mountain to you!" 

(Speaking to the Great Spirit, Sho-gwa-yah-dih-sah) ; 

" Oh you the Manager of All Things! 

We ask you to help us, 

To help us make this medicine strong! 

You are the Creator, 

The Most High, 

The Best Friend of men! 

We ask you to help us! 

We implore your favor! 

I have spoken." 

After the tobacco throwing ceremony the keeper of the rattles 
gives each person in the circle a large gourd rattle and then the 
lights are extinguished leaving the assembly in total darkness. 
The watcher of the medicine uncovers the bundles exposing it to 
the air and as he does so a faint glow like a luminous cloud hovers 
over the table and disappears.^ The leader or holder of the song 
gives a signal with his rattle calling the assembly to order and then 
begins to beat his rattle. The people shake their rattles in regular 
beats until all are in unison when the holder of the song commences 
the song, which is taken up by the company. And such a song it 
is ! It is a composition of sounds that thrills the very fiber of 
those who hear it. It transports one from the lodge back into the 
dark mysterious stone age forest and in its wierd wild cadences it 
tells of the origin of the society, of the hunter of the far south 
country and how when he was killed by the enemy the animals 
to whom he had always been a friend restored him to life. It 
tells of his pilgrimage over plain and mountain, over river and 
lake, ever following the call of the night bird and the beckoning 
of the winged light. It is an opera of nature's people that to Indian 
ideas is unsurpassed by any opera of civilization. 

The first song requires one hour for singing. Lights are then 
turned up and the feast maker passes the kettle of sweetened 
strawberry juice and afterward the calumet^ from which all draw 

'This does not occur when the medicine has been adulterated with powdered roots. 
* In recent ceremonies each member smoked his own pipe of Indian tobacco. 



1 62 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 

a puff of the sacred incense. Then comes an interval of rest in wliich 
the members smoke sacred tobacco and discuss lodge matters. 
The medicine is covered before the lights are turned up. 

With a chug of his resonant gourd rattle the leader calls the 
people together for the second song which is wilder and more 
savage in character. The whip-poor-will's call is heard at inter- 
vals and again the call of the crows who tell of a feast to come. 
The whip-poor-will song is one that is most beautiful but it is 
played on the flute only at rare intervals and then it is so short 
that it excites an almost painful yearning to hear it again but 
there is art in this savage opera and its performers never tire of it 
because it is "wonderful even to them. During the singing every 
person in the circle must sing and shake his rattle, to pause is con- 
sidered an evil thing. It is no small physical effort to shake a 
long-necked gourd a hundred and fifty times a minute for sixty 
minutes without cessation. This I soon discovered when as a 
novitiate of the society I was placed between a medicine woman 
and man and given an extra heavy rattle. Every now and then 
a hand from one or the other side would stretch forth from the 
inky blackness and touch my arm to see if I were faithful and 
sometimes a moist ear would press against my face to discover if 
I were singing and, listening a moment to my attempts, would 
draw back. The song in parts is pitched very high and it is a 
marvel tliat male voices can reach it. At times the cliief singers 
seem to employ ventriloquism for they throw their voices about 
the room in a manner that is startling to the novice. At the close 
of the song lights are turned up and the berry water and calumet 
are passed again and a longer period of rest is allowed. There 
are two other sections of the song ritual with rest intervals that 
bring the finale of the song close to daybreak. The feast makers 
pass the berry water and pipe again and then imitating the cries 
of the crow the Ho-non-di-ont pass the bear or boar's head on a 
platter and members tear off a mouthful each with their teeth 
imitating the caw of a crow as they do so. After the head is eaten 
each member brings forth his pail and places it before the fire- 
place for the feast maker to fill with the allotcd portion of o-no-kwa 
or hulled corn soup. When the pails are filled, one by one the 
company disperses into the gray light of dawn and the medicine 
ceremony is over. At the close of the last song each one takes 
his packet of medicine and secretes it about his person. 

The medicine song according to the ritual of the society is neces- 
sary to preserve the virtue of the medicine. It is an appreciation 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 163 

of the founder of the order and a thanksgiving to the host of living 
things that have given their hfe power that the medicine might 
be. The spirits of these creatures hover about the medicine which 
they will not desert as long as the holder remains faithful to the 
conditions that they saw fit to impose when it was given to the 
founder. The psychic influence of the animals and plants is the 
important part of the medicine and when the medicine is opened 
in the dark they are believed to be present in a shadowy form that 
is said to sometimes become faintly luminous and visible. Members 
are said frequently to see these spirit fonns, not individual members 
only but the entire compan}^ simultaneously. There are marvels and 
mysteries connected with the ceremonies of the Ho-noh-tci-noh-gah, 
the Indians say, that white men will never know, nor would believe 
if told. The Indian believes that he has some sacred mysteries 
that will die with him, and that even in this age of inquiry, these 
mysterious things will never become the property of civilization. 

Someone has suggested that Indian songs are not stable but 
vary from time to time, but this idea is at once dispelled when we 
see a company of fifty young and old chanting the same song with- 
out a discord from night till morning. The song is uniformly 
the same and probably has varied but slightly since it originated. 
It is still intact with none of its parts missing, although the words 
are archaic and some not understood. ' 

The medicine men teach that if a packet is not sung for at least 
once in a year the spirits will become restless and finally angry 
and bring all manner of ill luck upon its possessor. The spirits 
of the animals and plants that gave their lives for the medicine 
will not tolerate neglect, and relentlessly punish the negligent 
holder and many instances are cited to prove that neglect brings 
misfortune. The medicine will bring about accidents that will 
cause sprains, severe bruises and broken bones and finally death. 
In every Seneca settlement the story is the same and individuals 
are pointed out who, having neglected their medicine, have become 
maimed for life. Should some member of a family die leaving his 
medicine, it is claimed that it will compel the person who should 
rightly take the dead one's place to respect its desires. The 
members of the society relate that when John Patterson, the last 
holder of the secret, died, he left his medicine in the loft of his 
house. His son, a well educated man of wide business experience, 

1 The writer has recently examined an old book in which a Seneca had recorded the 
words of the ritual. There is no variation between the version found in the book and 
that now used with the exception of an "r" sound in some syllables now pronounced "ah " 
The writer's conclusion above stated is therefore justified. 



i64 



NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



one of the shrewdest men of the Senecas and a person seemingly 
free of superstitution, thought that he would allow the medicine 
of his father t(^ remain idle. He wished tn have nnthincr to do with 




The luciiicint: raillc i^rcotr.ie.i lo Mr^ Cua'.cr>c by ihc 
Canadian Me<licine Society 

the old-fashioned heathenish customs of his father. Indeed he 
did not take interest enough in the medicine to look at it. Several 
medicine sittings passed l>v and tht- man l)Ogan to sutTcr strant'c 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 165 

accidents. One evenin,^ as he sat with his family on the veranda 
of his home, a modern dwelhng such as is found in any modern 
town, tlie members say that he heard the medicine son<,'- floating 
in the air above him. He was startled and each of the family was 
frightened. The singing continued until at length it grew faint 
and ceased. Upon several occasions the family and visitors heard 
the song issuing from the air. Mr Patterson sent for the leader 
of the lower medicine lodge, William Nephew, who asked where 
the medicine was hidden. No one knew, but after a search it was 
discovered. Mr Nephew ordered that a feast should be made and 
the rites performed. Then was the modern educated Indian 
forced to join the lodge and take his father's seat. This story, 
of which I have given but the bare outline, is commonly known 
among the Senecas, Mr M. R. Harrington, an archeologist and 
one time field instructor in archeology of Harvard Universitv, 
being perfectly familiar with the facts of the case which he took 
pains to learn while stax'ing at the Patterson home. Howsoever 
this ma}' be explained, it is nevertheless considered one of the 
mysteries of the medicine and the instance is not a solitary one. 
Few white people have ever been allowed in a medicine lodge 
and when they have been they have not witnessed the ceremony in 
full. I know of only two who have ever become members, holding 
the medicine, Mr Joseph Keppler and Mrs Harriet Maxwell Con- 
verse. When Mrs Converse was initiated into the societ}' she 
took notes of everything said and done. Her account is a most 
interesting one and its value is not to be underestimated. When 
she entered the lodge the leader addressed her in the following 
words, which she has recorded in her notebook: 

Address to the candidate 

All things are now ready for opening these ceremonies in the 
proper manner. We are now read}^ to commence. We are thank- 
ful that we are able to say to the Creator that we are in good 
health. 

It was appointed that we should meet in June when the straw- 
■berries were ripe, but at that time all of us were bus}- with our 
season's labor. Now the ordained period has nearly passed by 
and we have not sung. Thus it is arranged that we meet at this 
time and carry the ceremonies through before the berr}^ festival. 
You (speaking to the candidate), may then know how the Little 
Water Medicine came to mankind. We older ones, whose ex- 
perience with it is greater, will tell you. 



1 66 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 

It shall be done and I, John Jacket, understand the traditions 
and offer tobacco to the various beings who are a part of this 
medicine. I am the holder of this song. 

We are thankful to the Creator that we are here. Some of our 
number are absent. Some are dead. Some have gone to Christ's 
religion. Some are sick. Nevertheless, we will proceed, we few 
who are here. 

It would require a long time to relate the entire story of the 
medicine and thus we will tell the principal part only. 

(During these preliminary remarks each member lays his sealed 
box of medicine on the table. An interval of smoking follows the 
remarks of the holder of the song.) 

The medicine lodge cf-itome of the origin of the medicine ' 

Long time ago in the days of our grandfathers men journeyed 
great distances in search of good luck and adventure. We are 
about to relate of one of these ancient journeys. 

It so happened at one time that a band of On-gweh-o-weh, 
(Iroquois) with members of other nations, journeyed far into the 
south country. They had planned to engage in warfare and 
bring back a great number of scalps. But it so happened that as 
they were out the enemy attacked them suddenly and, being un- 
prepared, our party was nearly exterminated. Among those left 
dead upon the field of battle was a certain Seneca, a chief, who 
had always been a friend to the birds. It had been his custom to 
slay some animal and after skinning it to cut it open and shout for 
the birds saying, " I have killed something for you to eat! " 

As he lay dead upon the field the birds hovered over his form 
strangely attracted by it. They deliberated " We had a friend 
who looked like this; he used to call us often and it may be he 
who lies here killed by a blow on the head." While they were 
yet speaking two wolves came and wailing said, " Here lies our 
friend. We are orphans now! He always gave us food to eat. 
Let us trj' to restore his life! All of us animals he has fed and we 
must d'> somcthini,' for liini! It is our (lul\' to bring back his 
Hfe! " 

All the animals and binls came together where he was lying and 
counseled, saying, " O what can we do? Can we bring him to 
life? " The presiding chief of the council was a wolf and he asked, 
" Is there no way to bring him to life? " 

• According to the tran.s1ation by William Jones, a Seneca sachem of the Snipe clan, now 
deceased. Repro<lucc<l almost word for word and sentence for sentence, the only changes 
being those necessary to correct the more pronounced imperfections of craininar. 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 167 

Affectionately ^ the animals licked his head and saw where it 
was crushed and scalped. An owl asked, " How are we to find the 
scalp?" The hawk replied, " I can get it for I know where it is. 
I can get it at night on the eaves of the lodge in the settlement," 
and then he flew away on his errand. Returning successful he 
placed the scalp on the ground, asking the big crow to vomit on it 
and stick it on the dead man's head. Then the assembled council 
rejoiced because the scalp grew fast. The dead chief felt some- 
thing trickling down his throat and seemed to hear a far away 
singing. He began to move and there was life in him and he 
began to talk the same language they talked and they understood 
him. And when he became fully conscious the birds and animals 
had gone. 

Leaping to his feet he returned to his people and told them what 
had happened as he lay dead, how he had heard singing and had 
learned the song. The people marveled and were convinced. 

After a time men, those who were warriors, volunteered to go 
and fight another battle with the south country enemies. Thus 
an expedition was fitted out and the same chief who had been 
dead said, " That's the right thing " and he went with them. 
Now they had certain plans when they stopped for provisions. 

Their camping place was on a grassy place near certain deer 
licks where bears and other animals came to eat. At this place 
there was a kind of brook and spring. Being a distance from this 
place two young men who were perfectly virtuous were sent by the 
party to get game. Now they started and went. Arriving at 
the lick they sat down and listening thought that they detected 
the sounds of music, so they barkened. The sounds seemed to 
issue from a mountain and ring all about them. It told them of 
all their doings, and so entranced were they that they could do 
nothing but listen all night, though they should have returned to 
the camp. The next morning they returned and made report, 
that they had gone to the lick for game but there was something 
else there, and told the full story of the happenings. Then the 
once dead chief said, " It seems that we have met great luck, so 
return to the lick again. For this we will cleanse you and you may 
learn the import of the singing." So that night they gave them 
medicine and cleansed them and started them back again. And 
as before they heard the singing, this time very loud and distinct. 
It came from away up the hill mountain and they went toward it 
hoping to learn the words and music. Again returning to camp 
they sang parts of the song they had learned and the chief who 



1 68 NKW YORK STATE MUSEUM 

had been killed recognized it and said "It is for the good of the 
people! " 

Again the young men were purged and again tliey went by 
night, this time under the orders to follow the sound of music to its 
source. Reaching the lick the voices came as before and the 
young niL-n said, " Xow is the time to go! " They started and 
came to a windfall where the path was filled with fallen logs and it 
was very dark there. After a time they came to a place where 
they heard the roar of waters ami there were two gulfs. Then a 
big light came singing to follow it. Then the young men said, 
" Let us go up and down the gulf," and when they went down they 
found that they could ford the river. And the light began to 
glow like morning. One warrior was timid and said. " Let us rest 
for we may encounter great danger here," but the other replied " I 
am rested," and they went up the mountain. 

The voices seemed very near yet they could not find the singers. 
At length they reached the top of the mountain and found a large 
cornstalk, from four to six inches around. Its long leaves swept 
the ground and kept it smooth and clean. It grew from a large 
stone and its four roots spread out, one to the east, one to the 
west, one to the north and one to the south. One warrior said, 
" It must be this com that sings. " 

For a time they deliberated and said " The root must be cut. 
We must have a piece of the root. This must be medicine." 
They built a fire and offered tobacco incense; then taking an axe 
they chopped portions of the roots ofT and the juice was red like 
blood and immediately the cut ends came together and healed. 

The singing continued and seemed accompanied by a rattle 
made of a squash. 

The young men with the words of the song ringing in their ears, 
bearing the saered root started down the incline and all the animals 
and birds being invisible followed the two virgin men and told them 
all that was in the medicine. They returned to the camp and the 
song was called a great blessing. They scraped the root and put it 
in water and made incense of it. Drinking the mixture they became 
so strong that they could not be shot though shot at seven times. 

(The holder of the song pauses after the story and then turning 
to the candidate says) 

" We have this medicine good and strong. We have faith. It 
is many extracts. For its ]) reservation we sing four times a year. 
It is the same music. We sing all night and the spirit of the medicine 
sings with us as it did upon the mountain. 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 169 

Now you have heard the report that the old people made to me 
and I surely believe for I have seen and had experience. I have 
seen men who had been shot by accident or hurt in other ways 
who after using the medicine recovered. When I was young once, 
forty years of age, I was appointed to practise this medicine and 
ever since I have done so. After a while some church members 
objected to it, but I have alwa3's had faith in it and thought 
it aright to come true through music. When the Christians hold 
their service they always have music and praise God in music. 
God gave this music and all good gifts and he never thought it 
wrong. (The medicine and the medicine song) Now I am getting 
old and I have spoken from experience believing all I have said 
faithful!}-." ^ [It took an hour to relate and interpret this. ii. m. c] 

Instructions to the candidate - 

The medicine birds 

In order to get the bird most important in the medicine, a young 
man must cleanse himself, a virgin, never known woman, Ho-yeh- 
de-wa-doh, pure man. He goes up to get the charmed medicine. 
Lives on meat only for two or three months. Sent by compan}^ of 
medicine men, birds, he goes up a mountain and hides it, medicine. 
Then he calls all the birds of the air. All the l)irds come and the 
first bird coines. He shoots him. Crows, turkey buzzards come 
first and make an awful noise. Second bird white bird. Forbidden 
to kill him because he brings the third bird. This last bird is red, 
supposed to be red eagle, extinct, and he kills him and he vomits 
blood. Takes the heart and brain for medicine. 

Employment of the songs 

Four times a year we sing all night to the birds and animals. 
Sit in a circle and burn the sacred tobacco. One draws out a coal 
and burns it. All the birds and animals invited to take tobacco 
(all that are connected with the medicine). 

Tell the darkness to ta.ke some medicine. Sing to He-no, the 
Thunderer, last for he said, " The Medicine People are my people. 
I want to help them all I can." Sing to animals to keep them on 
friendly terms. If any one has medicine and has bad luck, sing 
and the medicine will make them feel better. Strong in their work. 

1 Jacket was an elder in the Presbyterian Mission Church for 30 or 40 years and was 
considered by the Indians and the missionaries an exceedingly devout man. 

2 From the speech of John Jacket, Holder of the Song, and here recorded literally, as 
translated by William Jones. 



170 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 

sometimes they dream someone gets hurt and if they don't sing to 
the medicine someone of the family will get hurt. 

Some members of tlie band keep it. Several bands keep it. Three 
or four keep it. 

Animal a)hl bird members of the meJiciite 

The animal and bird members of the medicine are the deer, 
snipe, white heron, hawk, big crow, big deer (moose or elk), bear, 
mud turtle, beaver, wolf, eagle, whip-poor-will, owl, crow and 
otter. These accompanied the young men on their night journey. 

The fruit members 

The fruit members are strawberries, blackberries, apples, huckle- 
berries.' The tree is the maple because it yields the sweet water 
for the drink. Tlic plant is the tobacco only, its root is a deadly 
poison. 

The ingredients of the medicine 

The ingredients of the medicine are supposed to be unknown but 
tradition relates that it is composed of portions of all the birds, 
animals, plants, trees, and fruits that are members of the Ni-gah- 
ni-gah-ah, their brains and hearts, etc., etc. 

Duties of members 

Every member must be kind and forgiving. He must forgive his 
enemy before he can sing. Must be pure. Must not ask for money 
to take it for service. 

No one must sing the songs to learn them or even repeat them 
to any one only in the lodge. 

Any one of good reputation can come in and sing in the outside 
room if he believes in the medicine and those to whom it has been 
administered, but onlv members of a band can hold it. 



After her initiation to the Medicine Society Mrs Converse pub- 
jished in the St Louis Republic two accounts of her experience. 
These are too valuable to become lost within the files of a newspaper 
and should be placed on record. F(»r this reason I have seen fit to 
copy them entire. 



■ Jacket has forgotten to name the com, beans and squashes as members of the medicine. 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS I7I 

THE SOCIETY OF THE MEN WHO MOVE SPIRITS' 

" Little Water Medicine " which is called the Indian's elixir of life. Some 
of the strange habits and superstitions of the doctors. 

(Mrs Converse, the author of this strictly true narrative was in 
1884 formally adopted into the family of the Seneca chief, Tho-no- 
so-wa, a descendant of Red Jacket, that she might thus become a 
great-great-granddaughter of the chieftain whom her father had 
powerfully befriended. Later she was made a member of the 
Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga, Tuscarora and Mohawk nations. 
Since writing this story she has been made a chief of the Iroquois 
League in recognition of her public services for the w^elfare of the 
eastern tribes of Indians.) 

The Ne-gar-na-gar-ah •■ Society is known to all the North American 
Indians. 

Its rites are the same everywhere although the location of tribes 
and the animal and bird inhabitants of the localities govern some- 
what the character of the sacred song which is recited at the four 
3''early conventions. 

It is with the consent of the Iroquois members that I relate 
some of the ceremonies at my own initiation into this great secret 
medicine society, to correct false ideas among the " palefaces." 
Certain vows of silence prevent a complete account. 

The Indians have been accused of conducting the rites of the 
Ne-gar-na-gar-ah with pagan profanities. This is not true. A moral 
and deeply religious spirit prevails. If there be superstition in the 
legend of the origin of the society, there is none the less undeniable 
remedial and curative virtue in the " Little Water Medicine " pre- 
pared by the mystery man especially in the case of gunshot and 
arrow wounds. 

I had been told the traditionary perils attending the initiation 
into the society. I had been warned that an evil spirit might take 
possession of me whereupon I would be transformed into a witch 
and could assume the form of bird, beast or reptile, just whichever 
would best serve my plan in carrying out any horrible purpose. 
Moreover if I wxre discovered in m}^ practices or if I were even 
complained of by any outside person I would be secretly poisoned 
or shot. I might be compelled to join a band of invisible demons 
who hold secret meetings in the darkness for which the initiation 
fee is a human life, they to select the victim. I might be con- 

1 From The Republic, St. Louis, Mo., October 16, 1892. 

2 Mrs Converse has spelled the name of the medicine ne-gar-na-gar-ah, conforming to tlie 
old form of !pronunciation used by the members. 



172 



NEW YORK STATE MUSKUM 



demned to murder my dearest friend. Indeed it was tlie privilege 
of the demon band that the most precious should be sacrificed 
in its cause. Or, I would be given a " charmed life " and held at the 
mercy of these demons which they would bestow upon some other 
human member of their band to be used in case of my disobedience. 
Xevertheless, I accept with pleasure the invitation of my gentle 
friends, the Iroquois members of the Ne-gar-na-gar-ah society, to 




A member of the Canadian Meiiicine (Little Water) Company 

" sit " in the Moon-of-the Berries convention in June 1888. As the 
legend of the origin of the Ne-gar-na-gar-ah is of importance in 
understanding the rites at my initiation, I will introduce it just here. 

Origi)! of the X c-i!^ar-na-giir-ah 

In the " old limes " Indians understood the language of animals 
and birds. 

Among the s|K'cial friends of the fur and feathered tribes was a 
certain giant chief, known far and wide for his goodness and valor. 

The chief through whom came the Xe-gar-na-gar-ah, is not 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 173 

claimed as the ancestor of any special nation, but is acknowledged 
by all tribes to be the " governor " of the medicine. His influence 
among the Indians yet endures as the " Doer of the Good." 

Notwithstanding his vigilance, this chief one day during a hunt, 
was suddenly overcome with exhaustion and fell in a dead stupor. 
At this moment the chief of a hostile nation chanced to pass by, 
and lifting his stone axe, dealt him a death blow, took his scalp and 
fled with the trophy to his own people. 

" By the good that comes," as the red men say, a wolf found the 
dead chief, and recognizing him as the friend of his tribe, gave a 
piteous death cry that summoned other animals and birds to his aid. 

A bear, hurrying to the chief, discovered warmth in the body 
and clasped it close in his hairy arms and commanded life to 
return. 

An eagle fanned his great wings above the chief's head and sum- 
moned the noon air to bring back his breath. 

A swift hawk flew to the camp of the enemy where the chief's 
scalp, painted with red blood and stretched on a hoop, was fluttering 
from a pole around which the warriors were celebrating a victory 
dance. The quick wings and keen eyes of the hawk were too cunning 
for the flying arrows of the warriors. With one swoop he seized 
the scalp in his beak, softening it with his feathers dipped in a 
gentle stream, he carried it to the forest doctors, who quickly 
restored it to the gaping wound on the chief's head. 

In the council held by these forest folk it was determined to 
compound a medicine to which each bird and beast should con- 
tribute some vital portion of its own body. To this was added 
curative herbs, and then the mixture was administered to the chief 
in the cup of an acorn, and it quickly restored him to life. 

The legend states that the chief persuaded these forest doctors to 
reveal to him the secret of this wonderful " life creator. " The story 
of his night journey to obtain this secret is the foundation of the 
initiation ceremony of the Ne-gar-na-gar-ah society. 

The date of the organization of the order, Indian history does 
not tell. But it has existed for centuries and there is reason to 
believe that as far as is possible with the encroachments of the 
" paleface " into the territories of the red man, the exercises at the 
conventions today are conducted according to the primitive rules 
of its origin, and the seasons at wliich these gatherings are held 
are the same among all the North American Indian nations and 
the watchwords and signs are recognized everywhere.^ 

^ ' Medicine societies existed among most Indian tribes but they were not uniform in 
character nor did they usually recognize each other. 



174 ^'EW YORK STATE MUSEUM 

Legend of the chief's initiation 

It is night, a night of darkness impenetrable. There is no sound 
save the waterfall and the river. In the forest the chief, patient 
and listening, is waiting for the sign promised him. 

Will it be given? 

Yes. Birds and beasts do not lie. 

The chief trusts and waits until a strong voice that has come out 
from the stillness and the darkness is saying: " Hast thou cleansed 
thyself from mortal guilt and imi)urity?" 

The chief replies, " I have." 

" Hast thou ill will toward any of thy fellow creatures? " 

" I have not." 

" Wilt thou trust and obey us, keeping thyself always chaste 
and valorous? " 

" I will." 

" Wilt thou hold this power with which we endow thee for thine 
own people only? " 

•' I will." 

" Wilt thou endure deatli and torture in its cause? " 

'• I will." 

" Wilt thou vow this secret never to be revealed save at thy 
death hour? " 

" I will." 

" Thy death hour will be made known to thee, thou wilt be let 
to choose thy successor, and at the end of thy journe\' thou wilt be 
rewarded for thy faith and obedience I " 

There is a rustling as if a hurr\'ing wind were flying through the 
forest, and again the silence! 

Yet in the darkness something glows, flickers, disappears, re- 
turns, fans sideways, wings to and fro near the chief, and at last 
fitfully hovers over him, as a whip-poor-will with its night voice 
softly sings, " Follow me! Follow me! " 

It is the promised sign. The winged light vanishes ami the 
believing chief follows. 

On and on through stretches of tangles that test his endurance, 
thnjugh the shadowy horrors of endless swamps, the chief is guided 
by the voice of the whip-poor-will, " Follow me! Follow me! " 

In the forest dejjths he is attended by all the night folk each of 
whom reveals to him the secret of the pi^rtion it added to the 
medicine, until he knows each of its elements. His trail widens 
as he speeds on and there are "stations " where he is permitted to 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 175 

rest. At these moments the forest folk vanish but the winged 
light returns to cheer him. 

He thirsts: an invisible bird, bearing the niglit dew in the hollow 
between its wings, brings him a drink. 

He hungers: an invisible animal brings him food that nourishes 
him. 

Thus refreshed he wanders on, at intervals, until he reaches a 
frowning mountain of rocky steeps that are insurmountable by 
human will or skill. 

As this monster mountain threatens the chief the east sky seems 
nearer to him, the voice of the whip-poor-w411 grows faint and at 
last silent, the forest folk have fled, the wdnged light does not 
return, yet the deserted chief believes and waits. 

At last in the distance of the fair skies he hears the screaming of 
an eagle. He is suddenly possessed with a power that leads him 
up the mountain, where he finds at its summit nothing but rocks 
and barrenness, except one majestic plant that stretches its leaves 
far out toward the east, west, south and north skies. 

A voice directs him to divide the plant into two portions. As 
he cuts it, a stream of blood flows from the wound down the rock 
side. A substance is laid in his hand which the voice bids him 
hold close to the bleeding plant stalk, whereupon, the prostrate 
plant lifts itself and its wound closes, leaving no sign to tell of its 
bruise save a seed sheathed, tasseled and golden. This is the maize 
or wild corn plant. In this manner was the chief endowed with 
life's great restorer, the medicine, the Ne-gar-na-gar-ah. 

How the medicine is dispensed today 

The conventions of this society are held four times a year; when 
the deer sheds its coat, at the berry moon, when the corn is ripe 
and in midwinter. 

The curative handed down from the chief is held by one medicine 
man or " mystery man " of a nation or league of nations, and at 
these conventions is distributed by him to certain bands of the 
order who are entitled to use it for the people. This head man 
holds the secret of compounding the restorer until his death warn- 
ing when he reveals it to his successor whom he has a right to 
choose. It is told that " he who holds the medicine " never dies 
suddenly, for, as the red men say, "he has time to die." 

Tradition says that when the medicine is exhausted the red 
man will disappear from the earth. It is a fact that the medicine 



176 NEW YORK STATE MLSKUM 

is very scarce among the eastern Indians ami that, by reason of the 
extenninalion of certain animals important to its ingredients, it 
will be nearly impossible to replenish the stock. The passing away 
and total annihilation of many of the eastern tribes is noted by the 
red man as a fultilment of the prophecy. 

The first chief was given permission to kill any beast or l)ird 
from whom it was necessary to extract the life principle for the 
medicine. He was also given the right t(j kill in tiie hunt for food 
or furs to cloth his body any of the medicine beasts or birds if he 
would first ask its consent and i:)ardon. If refused he could not 
inflict upon it a death wound by his arrows or otherwise. The 
true medicine man still abides by this law. Entire secrecy is 
imperative in this organization. If revelation is made of its 
primal important secrets the penalty is swift and certain. 

Precautionary measures in relation to cleansing and purifying 
the body are rigidly observed before participating in its conven- 
tions or singing for the benefit of the sick. The indulgence in any 
sensual appetite destroys the " chann " or efficacy of the medicine. 
The sacred song is usually recited by one chanter who visits the 
difTerent tribal medicine bands of the nation. The gentle old 
chief who officiated at my initiation has been tlie national chanter 
of the Iroquois League for 47 years. If the song is repeated by 
any one without the knowledge of the chanter, it is expected that 
evil results will follow. 

When " called " to administer to a wounded or ill person, it may 
happen that the patient fails to receive full recovery by one visit 
of the society. In this case, as tlie " medicine " does not solicit 
patients, it must be called again a second time and given a feast, 
when the patient will be restored to health, if it is the will of the 
Great Spirit, who is always asked to guide the red man and choose 
for his best always. 

THE SENECA MEDICINE LODGE 
Mks e(jNVi;ksii's stokv ok iikr imtlvtion ' 

" Twenty-four hours before the berry moon first hangs her horn 
in the night sky." This, the traditional call I understood wluii 1 
received it from the New York State Iroquois Ne-gar-na-gar-ah. 

A day's journey by rail, 48 hours before the first quarter of the 
June moon, brought me to the ajjpointed place, the comfortable 
farmhouse of an Iroquois chief. 

'From 7lu Republic, Si Louis. Mo.. Oct. 33. 189^. 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 177 

No person except a member of the society can touch any article 
that is to serve in its ceremonies. After the room, in which the 
society is to meet is prepared, no person except a member is per- 
mitted to enter and a watcher is stationed at each window and 
door. At least one representative of each of the clans must be 
present to form a quorum. These clans, the Wolf, Bear, Beaver, 
Turtle, Deer, Snipe, Heron and Hawk and others which include 
all the animal and bird inhabitants common at one time to all 
latitudes between southern Canada and Louisiana, represented 
the procession that accompanied the chief in his night journey to 
discover the secret of the Ne-gar-na-gar-ah. 

At certain " stages " in the ceremony the representatives are 
required to give the voice sign of their clan bird or animal, thus 
signifying that it has entered the room. 

Although the Bear, Wolf, Hawk, and Eagle were prominent in 
restoring the chief to life, as he proceeded on his journey all the 
nightfolk of the forest joined him. So, in the celebration of the 
mysteries of the Ne-gar-na-gar-ah, all these clans join the pro- 
cession. The song chanted relates the story of the night travel, 
each stanza announcing the arrival of some bird or beast. 

The ceremony, which begins at 9 p. m. in winter and ic p. m. in 
summer, continues all night. The feast is served before dawn, 
and the members depart before the sun rises. The song is chanted 
three times during the j^ear, June, September and January. On 
these occasions a feast is given. The spring and fall conventions 
are held for the benefit of the sick. If at any time a member 
should, by dreams or otherwise, have a premonition of danger 
coming to him he can order a " special " meeting. 

Preparations 

Before dawn of the appointed day my host, the Iroquois chief, 
had brought from the forest a few hemlock logs, which he deposits 
in an unoccupied outshed and bars the door. He also spreads 
leaves of Indian tobacco yet wet with dew under the stove in the 
summer-cooking room. 

The provisions for the feast consist of a few quarts of freshly 
gathered wild strawberries, sugar to sweeten the "strawberry 
water," a hog's head and a few dozen ears of flint corn. 

When these are put in place, the night has come with its starless 
darkness, the members are assembling, the hemlock logs are 
kindled to a blazing fire under a great iron kettle and the hog's 
head and hulled corn begin boiling. This, the feast, is superin- 



lyS NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 

ini-icil by an ajjctl matron, wife of the chanter. I oiler to assist 
and am stirrin*^ the soup with a larj;e ladle when a chief summons 
me to the ceremony and I follow him. In the room, the common 
winter living apartment of the chief's household, about 20 feet 
square, the members are seated close to the wall on benches ar- 
ranged in a hollow square; in the center are a large stove and a 
table; on the latter are a large pail and a dipper for the strawberry 
water, a lot of small parcels, some carefully wrapped in cloth, 
others in strips of birch and elm bark, a dozen gourd rattles, two 
quaint looking lUites and a small oil lamp that renders the corner 
shadows darker and more wierd by its flickering. 

I stand at the door unnoticed. Were it not for my knowledge 
of the customs of the red men I would retreat. 

I know by their mute language that they are discussing me. 

I know that they will give me a sign b}^ which I do finally enter 
the room and take the seat appointed me in the northeast corner. 

The initiation 

The venerable cnief walks to the table, takes a Dox and passes 
it to all. It is the sacred or incense tobacco of which each mem- 
ber receives a small pipe portion. He offers me a new clay pipe 
and lights the sacred tobacco with the punk kindled by the flint 
fire anil whispers to me, " Smoke, sister, smoke!" 

As I receive the pipe he awaits for my assent. I make a sign 
motion with the pipe, and, raising it to my lips, with one inliala- 
tion promise and declare loyalty forever to the silences of the 
Ne-gar-na-gar-ah . 

After my vow the pipe of each in the room, including those of 
four elderly women, is lighted by the chief, who carries the burning 
punk in his hand; tlius performing the rite of "community of 
friendship." 

During the smoking the legend of the Xe-gar-na-gar-ah is related 
to me by a chief of the Wolf Clan and interpreted b\' my host who 
sits by my side. 

After a wait of a few minutes the lamp is blown out and all is 
darkness. I sit near the winilow, l)ut I can not sec the lowest 
branch of the apple tree, which, blown by the wind, is scratching the 
panes with a ghostly touch. The hush is heavy and stifling. 
Can there be around nic twenty-five peoi)le in this dark stillness? 
I clas[> my hands together with a ])ineliing clutch, and recall the 
injunction of my host to " continually remember the legend of the 
chief's journey." 



IROOUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 



179 



. . -p. <-• P J C> !-» 










\ 




l8o NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 

I remember then that this darkness must symboHze the awful 
night that came upon him. 

Sure that the " winged " hght will float into the room from 
some place, I wink my eyes wider open, and at last see a faint light 
where the table stands. Yes, the light that comes and goes is 
clearly defined. I know that there is nothing supernatural in the 
ceremonies of the Xe-gar-na-gar-ah but I still sit and wonder. 

My host whispers : " Watch, they have uncovered the medicine." 

I comprehend. I hail been told that the Ne-gar-na-gar-ah, 
possessed of certain phosphorescent elements, would emit a lumi- 
nous glow when first exposed to the air and darkness. At the 
same instant a small blaze glows from the top of the stove. By 
this brighter and stronger light the medicine light fades away. 
Outlined in the darkness I see the venerable chanter standing by 
the stove. He is throwing the sacred tobacco on the blaze and in 
a low voice is saying: '* Oh thou, the Great Spirit, the giver of 
the darkness and repose, we thank thee for all the silences of the 
night." This invocation is followed by an offering of gratitude, 
also numerous petitions for the preservation of the medicine, the 
quick recovery of any to whom it may be administered, and the 
spiritual and temporal welfare of each member of the society. 
He also asks of each life that may be preparing to fly unasked from 
some human body to remain a while longer and not go until the 
Great Spirit is ready and invites it. At the end of each sentence 
he rests and throws tobacco on the flame until the little blaze has 
expired and the darkness is again in the room. Then the chief in 
the invitation rite requests all the night folk of the forest, including 
those who run under the ground, to protect us on our journey to 
the morning. The chanter then recites a wierd melody: 

The darkness song 

Ha go wa nah u nu 

I la go way nah u na ha ha ha go way 

I la una ha na ha ah, 

1 la go way, 
Na sa ha nee ga ha do wayhe ah 
Ha u na ha ah ha go way! 

W'c wail in the darkness! 
C(jmc, all ye who listen. 
Help in our night journey: 
Now no sun is shining; 
Now no star is gUnving; 
Come show us the pathway: 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS l8l 

The night is not friendly; 
She closes her eyelids; 
The moon has forgot us, 
We wait in the darkness ! 

There is a short pause, the chiefs take their rattles, and the in- 
vitation song begins, the chanter singing alone, the chiefs softly 
shaking their rattles in rhythm with his voice, and the members of 
the clans in turn responding to the " invitations " by imitating the 
call or cry of their animal totem. 

Preceding this song the cry of the whip-poor-will, the bird pro- 
tector that guided the chief on his journey, is wondrously imitated 
by the flute player. 

As literally as possible I translate: 

The invitation song 

Ha wa ga na hoe 

Ha wa gah nae 

Na ho oh ha na 

Ga na ho hi-e-e-e-e-eh! 

So says the whip-poor-will 
Follow me, follow me! 
So says the chief to him, 
Yes I will follow thee ! 

See the night darkening; 
The shadows are hiding. 
No light to follow for. 
So says the waterfall, 
So sings the river voice ! 

Someone is nearing me. 
Soft he comes creeping here, 
Two eyes glare close to me, 
Lighting the forest path — 
Hear how his breath blows by ! 

Fol-low me, fol-low me, — 
So sings the whip-poor-will ! 
Yes I am following, — 
So the chief answers him. 

Cries announce that the "VVolf and his mate have entered the room. 

Here there is a rest interval; the lamp is lighted, the sweet 

strawberry water is passed, pipes are smoked and the conversation 



l82 NF.W YORK STATE MUSEUM 

is carried on in whispers for about 20 minutes; afterward again 
the darkness and the song continue: 

Hark, the trees bending low, 
Something is breaking them. 
Not the strong north wind's hand, 
Something stalks broad and swift. 
Snutling and panting loud! 

I lark! How the tangles break! 
Fearless the footfalls pass, 
Strong trees stretch far apart. 
Groat horns dividing them. 
(Whip-poor-will chorus) 

The Buck and Doe, with cries enter the room; another rest 
interval, with smoking and drinking. 
The song continues: 

How the cold shivers me! 
No snow is falling now. 
Where does the sun's fire hide? 
Something comes roaring loud 
Swift footed warning me I 

Its breath blinds the night eyes. 
Like rainy vapor falls! 
Now it walks close to me, 
Warming and coaxing me, 
Where the black forest frowns. 
(Whip-poor-will chorus) 

The Bear and his mate have come and after a rest interval the 
song goes on: 

How the wind travels now, 
No one dares run with it. 
Great trees bend low to it, 
Rivers fight back to it, 
Roaring and splashing it ! 

i Icar its wings flapping strong 
Far in the hidden skies! 
Swift it flies northward high. 
Whistling and calling loud, 
Hunting its running prey! 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 183 

The Hawk and its mate are announced. Although these four 
attendants mentioned in the journey legend are the royal guests of 
the society, yet the song continues with its intervals of rest until 
all the forest folk announce their arrival. 

There are also rites that symbolize the dangers of the forest 
tangles and swampy horrors. Through these I am taken, yet 
guided by the whip-poor-will return safely to my seat. By the 
legend the Eagle must dismiss the meeting. His coming wdiich is 
imitated on the small flute announces the day. The cold gray light 
of dawn steals into the room as this, the final stanza, in the choinis 
which we all join, is chanted: 

The Eagle Song 

Deep the dew water falls 
No one comes close to me ! 
Where are you whip-poor-will? 
Why am I waiting now 
Calling 3^our voice again? 

Screaming the night away, 
With his great wing feathers 
Swooping the darkness up ; 
I hear the Eagle bird 
Pulhng the blanket back 
Off from the eastern sky! 

How swift he flies bearing the sun to the morning. 
See how he sits down in the trails of the east sky! 
Whip-poor-will, Whip-poor-will, no more I follow thee! 
When the night comes again, wilt thou say " Follow me" ? 

The singing ends and the matrons bring in the kettles of soup and 
distribute it to all. 

A few words in which I thank my Indian friends for consenting 
that I may hereafter "sit " with them and their friendly replies 
fill the moments that are swiftly bringing the day. It is the law 
that the sun shall not see us separate. 

As I stand in the farmhouse door and hear the rumble of wheels 
grow faint and fainter, the sun casts a foreglow of its coming in 
the east sky, and the night seems a dream and it is difficult to 
realize that it has made me a member of the most ancient order of 
North American Indians. 



184 NKW VfiKK STATE ML'SKUM 



APPEXDIX A 



ESQUIRK JOHNSON'S ACCOUNT OF THE ORIGIN OF GOOD AND EVIL 
AS IT WAS TOLD HIM BY THE OLD MEN' 

The old times among the Non-do-wat-gaah 

Dated, Oct. 25, 1875 

When there was yet no land, but all was one extensive lake there 
were multitudes of ducks and geese, one, Gwi-yuh-gee, looked up and 
saw something dark in the sky above them, and called out to the 
rest that something was coming down to the earth. He immedi- 
ately called a council of the waterfowls as to what they should do 
for a place for the being, whoever she might be, to rest upon. One 
duck ofYered to dive to see if there might be some bottom to their 
lake which might be brought up for that purpose. After some time 
she came up but was dead, the struggle having been too great for 
her strength. She shot up into the air and dropped back lifeless 
to the surface of the water.- Several others made the attempt with 
like results until at last a muskrat made the attempt in a like 
manner and came up dead but with a little earth in his claw which 
when the others saw they commenced their efforts anew and many 
were successful in bringing up a small quantity which they placed, 
at the suggestion of their chief, on the back of an immense turtle 
who was willing to become the foundation of an island for them. 

At length the dark object which was all this time becoming plainer 
to their vision, reached their view, reached tlie island and was found 
to be a woman with child. The waterfowls received her and pro- 
vided for her wants, feeding her with crabs and other small fish to 
keep her alive. When the woman was taken in labor, they discovered 
that there were twins and that they were already endowed with 
the gift of speech, and were heard to converse together. One 
declared that he tliought he saw a light under his mother's arm. 
which he thought must be the way of egress into the world. The 
other said no, that he felt attracted in the opposite direction. But 
one at last burst through his mother's side which caused her death 
immediately, while the other was born iIk- nntural way. TIio last 
bom was God, the first was the Devil 

God immediately said, " I will take ni)- mother's face and make 
the sun, and her bright and beautiful eyes shall give light to the 
whole world. Of her body and liml)s I will make the moon to give 

' Verbatim from a manuscript by Mrs Asher Wright. 

1 Th- I'V ■ •••"<■• '■.•V. . ..1. ins "shot up out of the water." 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 185 

light by night on the earth" and the light of day was there estab- 
lished and also the light of the moon at night. Then began to grow 
upon the earth grass and flowers and trees and grains and vege- 
tables for food for men and animals. 

After some time God met his brother the Devil on the shore of 
the island and having discovered that he was intent on spoiling 
everything he made, he rebuked him sharply and told him he must 
stop doing mischief and not spoil his work any more. The Devil 
answered that he had a right to control things as well as he, that he 
could make wise things too. God said, " Well, try then now, and let 
me see if you can make a dish which will be useful." The Devil went 
to work and did it very well but when he put water in it it fell to 
pieces and was useless. God then took the sand on the shore and 
formed a dish and took it and dipped water and set it down and it 
was whole and useful. 

APPENDIX B 
THE STONE GIANTS ^ 
As God was walking about on earth and taking care of the things 
he had made, he met a company of people whom he accosted in a 
friendly way and asked them who was their master and where they 
were going and what was their business. They said that they were in- 
dependent and that they were going to find some people who lived 
over that way and were going to kill them and eat them. God told 
them that they had better not go, that they might get killed them- 
selves, but they persisted in going on. As soon as they were out of 
sight he took some coal and blackened his face and took a long circuit 
and ran with great speed to a place where he thought he could 
intercept them. He broke down an oh-so-ah tree and carried it for 
a club. When he met them he gave them battle and killed all but 
two, who ran away. God took the same path back to where he met 
them and having washed off the crock from his face he stood 
waiting their approach. He said, "Well, what luck did you have? " 
They said, "We are all dead but us two." " That's what I told you, " 
he said. The people were clothed in garments of stone and were 
called Ga-nos-gwah. 

APPENDIX C 

THE DE-O-HA-KO2 

Spirits of the Corn, Beans and Squash 
These plants are considered special gifts from the Great Spirit 
to the red man, and the welfare of each is intrusted to an individual 

' Verbatim from manuscript of Mrs A. Wright's interview with Chief Esquire Johnson. 
^ From Mrs Converse's manuscript notes. 



l86 NKU VOKK STATE MUSEUM 

guardian, one of the three spirit sisters, daughters of the Earth, 
the " Great Mother " of the Iroquois. The beans, corn and squash 
were, in the " old time," planted together in one hill and it was 
therefore consistent that their protectors should dwell in peaceful 
community. These chaste maidens are possessed of great beauty 
and unswerving fidelity. Ever watcliful in their guardianship, 
clothed in the leaves of their respective plants and friendly with 
the dews, at nightfall in the growing time they solicit their moisture 
to refresh and invigorate the fields over which they preside, pro- 
tecting them from blight and the infection of creatures that might 
corrupt the ripening. These gentle defenders have no individual 
names and are known only as the De-o-ha-ko. 

There is a legend that the corn once grew spontaneously and 
abundant and that its grain was heavy with rich oil, but the " Evil 
Minded," envious of the goodness of the Great Spirit in this gift to 
his people and having a limited power to destroy, one night de- 
tained the Spirit of the Com while he sent forth one of his emis- 
saries who cast a blight over the com. From that time the result 
has been apparent, the com yielding less abundant and being 
more difficult to cultivate. Since this fatal blight and captivity, 
the Spirit of the Corn has been compelled to hold her vigils alone 
in the fields where the corn now grows, separated from its sister 
plants. In her loneliness she dare not leave her charge to seek the 
dews, hence the droughts; but the pitying dews frequently visit 
her, refreshing the fields and comforting her in her solitude. 

In the winds that moan through the rustling com leaves, the 
red man hears the voice of the Spirit of the Corn who, in her love 
for him, bewails her bhghted fruitfulness. 

The conception of He-no, Ga-oh, and the De-o-ha-ko is, to a 
degree, similar to that of Jupiter, Aeolis, and Ceres of the Greeks; 
yet the red man, believing these myth guardians of nature to be 
subject to the one Supreme Ruler, the creator of man and the source 
of all good, reached a more definite conclusion respecting the ex- 
istence of a Deity and entitled him to a supreme religion of purity 
and dignity. 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 187 



APPENDIX D 

THE LEGENDARY ORIGIN OF WAMPUM ' 

Among Mrs Converse's correspondence I find the following letter from 
General Parker. It is evidently a reply to one of her inquiries, editor 

New York, July 9, 1885 
Yours of the 8th received. There are several legendary tales 
concerning wampum floating confusedly through my brain, and 
belonging to various Indian tribes, but you desire the Iroquois 
general legend. I use the word general because each tribe has 
tales of its own varying from the general one, related in rehearsing 
the origin of the great league. It is very simple and is told as 
follows. 

Hy-ent-wat-ha, an Onondaga, failing to enlist To-do-do-ha, also 
Onondaga, as an associate to perfect the league left the council 
fire, which had been evoked by his persuasions, and journeyed 
toward the rising sun and thus journeying he came to a beautiful 
lake (supposed to be the Oneida) which he was compelled to cross 
in a canoe. In passing over the lake he noticed that the blades of 
his paddles brought up from the bottom quantities of white and 
purple shells. Upon landing, he further observed that the shores 
were lined with a great abundance of them. I am not conchologist 
enough to designate what species of mollusks these shells belonged 
to but they were gasteropodous. 

Hy-ent-wat-ha, being a wise man, at once bethought him how 
to use these shells to advantage. So he gathered a large quantity, 
fining his traveling pouches, and in the occasional rests of his 
journeyings he made a belt out of the shells representing a pic- 
torial history of the league. The foundation of the belt was white 
and the pictorials purple. There stood the five cantons and the 
five brothers in front with joined hands in token of brotherly 
union. He also made a large number of strings, each string repre- 
senting some law or fundamental principle of the league. Before 
reaching the country of the Mohawks, the keepers of the western 
door at Albany, he had every idea and principle of the league per- 
fectly formulated in these belts and strings. Thus he reached the 
Mohawk country armed, we may say, cap-a-pie with every idea, 
principle and ceremony required for a perfect league of wild, un- 

* This legend was published in a small handbook issued by the Regents at the ceremony 
of the passing of the wampum belts to the State in 1898. 



1 SS .N i,\\ \ . iK K M ATE MUSEUM 

tutored Indian tribes. Reaching a Mohawk village, or cantonment, 
he camped on the outskirts thereof. He was discovered and 
noted as a stranger, and though informally invited by individual 
Indians to partake of their hospitality, he silently and invariably 
declined. His strange conduct was observed. It was sunnised 
that he was queer tiiough harmless.' He was noticed to be always 
talking about something, and constantly handling belts and strings 
made of curious white and purple shells. The head men of the 
village ordered strict watch to be kept over his every movement, 
and every word he uttered to be carefully and strictly noted, so 
that it might be detemiined what kind of a man he was. It was 
ascertained that these belts and strings of shells related to some 
sort of a league, its principles, its laws and ceremonial observances, 
also that with certain belts and strings he had formulated a tribal, 
or international code of etiquette, a conventional decorum to be 
observed towards each other or their representatives. 

All this being duly and fully reported to the head man or patri- 
arch of the village, he properly apprehended that the stranger was 
no ordinary person, and determined to invite and receive him as 
his guest, and being already infonned as to the observance required 
to invite and receive distinguished guests, he sent a special mes- 
senger to the stranger asking him for the loan of certain of his shell 
belts and strings. Ha\4ng obtained them, with all the exacted 
observances, he formally invited and received the stranger into 
his lodge. He gave him the place of honor, seating him upon a 
throne of skins, similar to his own. He informed the stranger 
that he was to be his brother, that they were to have equal rights 
to everything in the lodge and that equal respect should be paid 
by the people to both, and that they should jointly govern the 
people. 

This much pleased Hy-ent-wat-ha and he accepted the profTered 
contract in the same spirit, which to him seemed to govern the 
tender. But to the extreme mortification of Hj'-ent-w'at-ha no 
inquiry was made of him as to whom he might be, who his people 
were and where and on what mission he w^as bent. He complained 
to his brother of this neglect and told him it was his (the brother's) 
duty to send out nmners to look for the smoke arising from the 
camp fires of his people and finding them to go in and ascertain 
the news. The brother (he is called brother, for he is yet not named) 



' Hit strange conduct may have given rise to one of the translations of his name, lit 
who i»$ks hii mind knowine whtrt to find it. 



IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 189 

apologized for his stupid neglect and at once sent a deputation 
westward in search of the home of Hy-ent-wat-ha and his people. 

For a while things went smoothly with Hy-ent-wat-ha. The 
compact announced by the brother was strictly and faithfully 
kept, but after a time and while the delegation was yet absent, 
a party of some special friends came to visit the brother. Sitting 
room to accommodate all the party was scarce, but some room 
could be made if Hy-ent-wat-ha would give up his place. Accord- 
ingly the brother asked him to vacate his place in front and take 
a place behind him. This of course was a breach of the compact 
though unwittingly committed. Hence, as soon as Hy-ent-wat-ha 
could gather his personal effects, he left the lodge and reoccupied 
his abandoned camp, on the outskirts of the village. The brother 
sent to know the cause of this abandonment and on being told, 
made the most ample apologies and Hy-ent-wat-ha returned to 
the lodge. The compact w^as never again broken and they remained 
brothers indeed. 

The prospecting deputation now returned and reported that on 
journeying westward they had perceived a column of smoke rising 
from the earth till its head seemed to pierce the heavens. They 
had proceeded to its base and there found a large concourse of 
people, who announced that they had been called together by a 
great and wise man who had mysteriously disappeared and they 
were waiting for his return to tell them what they should do. 
That they were ruled b)^ a wicked monster in the form of a man, 
whose name was To-do-do-ha, whose hair was a tangled mass of 
hissing serpents. Whenever this human monster turned his gaze 
upon others, they were invariably turned into stone. All of the 
people, including the snaky monster, were anxious for the return 
of the man who was last seen making his way eastward. 

Hy-ent-wat-ha then explained that it was he who had called the 
people together for the purpose of organizing the Indians into one 
great family and establishing a perpetual peace among them; 
that the snaky headed chief had objected because he would be 
shorn of his great influence and demoniac powers. But that as 
the council fire which he had kindled from the red willow was still 
burning, it w'as plainly his duty to return and complete his task. 
But he could not do it alone. He must have help and his brother 
must be the helper. He therefore named him Da-ga-ee-oga meaning 
the word between, implying a speaker. That is, Hy-ent-wat-ha 
was to do the work and his brother the necessary speaking and 



IQO NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 

talking. At the same time Hy-ent-wat-ha instructed his brother 
in all the ceremonials and lan.t,'uagc of the belts and the strings. 

The shells have since been called wampums. Hy-ent-wat-ha 
made the white shells emblematic of peace and the purple of 
mourning and war. The two colors combined were used in record- 
ing their laws and councils. It may be said that Hy-ent-wat-ha 
consecrated the little shells to certain specific uses which the 
Indians generally have observed ever since. 

[Signed] Do-NE-HA-GA-WA 

The Wolf 



INDEX 



Abrams, Chaunccy, portrait, 24. 
Adirondacks, wars with Iroquois, 

128, 129. 
Adoption, different from honorary 

naming, 19; rare custom, 20. 
Ahneah, Rose Flower, 82. 
Algonquin and Wannutha, 124-27. 
Allegany Senecas, reservation, size, 

130. 
Anda, Day, 48. 
Animals and birds, 35-36. 
Ataensic, the Sky Woman, 31, 33- 

34- 
Athletes, Iroquois, 130. 

Bald Eagle, 69. 

Bat, 82. 

Beans, spirit of, 185-86. 

Bear, celestial, 57-59. 

Bear, how he lost his tail, 123-24. 

Berry dances, 106. 

Bird dance, origin of, 69-73. 

Birds, 35-36. 

Canoe (new moon), 48. 
Cattaraugus Senecas, abandoned 

tribal law, 129; reservation, size, 

130. 
Cayugas, union with Senecas, 128; 

an independent nation, 128; 

sachemships, 129; no separate 

reservation, 130; separated from 

Senecas, 139. 
Civil War, Iroquois furnished 162 

soldiers and sailors for, 130. 
Clans, original, 130. 
Conover, George S., Indian name, 

19- 

Converse, Frank Buchanan, 16; 

clan adoption, 22; death, 28. 
Converse, Mrs Harriet Maxwell, 

biography, 14-30; portrait, 18; 

adoption ceremony, 19; national 



adoption, 22; confirmed a Chief of 
the Six Nations, 25; death, 29; 
story of her initiation into the 
Seneca Medicine Lodge, 176-83. 

Corn, spirit of, 63-66, 185-86; draw- 
ing, 65. 

Cornplanter, Chief E., Origin of 
the Little Water Medicine So- 
ciety, 150-56; portrait, 93. 

Creation, myth of, 31-36. 

Crow, 63-66. 

Dagaeeoga, the word between, 189. 

Daganoweda, founder of the 
League of the Iroquois, 139. 

Dajoji, the Panther, 38. 

Dances, 134. 

Dancing Stars, 53-54. 

Dark Dancers, 102. 

Darkness, 35. 

Day, 48. 

Dayodadogowa, 36. 

Death, angel of, 51. 

Death dance, 81-84. 

Dehohniot, the Evil Soul Gatherer, 
51-52. 

Deiodasondaikon, thick night, 35. 

Deohako, 64, 185-86. 

Deoniot, 51. 

Dew Eagle, 45-47; drawing, 46. 

Dewando, 79. 

Dewey, Melvil, letter to INIrs Con- 
verse, 27. 

Djaswendo, 57. 

Donehagawa, the Wolf, 190. 

Donyondo, the Bald Eagle, 69. 

Doyadano, 34. 

Dream Fast, 107-10. 

Dreams, influence upon primitive 
minds, 94. 

Dust Fan, illus., 141. 

Dwarf People, 101-7. 



191 



i->-' 



NEW YORK STATIL MLSHIUM 



Eagentci, 31. 

l.aylc- Society, t>y; calumet fans, 

drawing, 73. 
Eiidckadakwu, Sun, 34. 
Evil, spirit of, 31, 34, 30, 47, 63. 
Evil, Johnson's account of tlic ori- 

gn> of, 184-85. 
Evil Soul Gatherer, 51-5-'. 

Face in the water, 81-84. 

I'alsc Eaces, 74-78. 

Fire iicast, 33. 

Fire Spirit, 45. 

Fish, the, 114-1O. 

Flame Bearers, 45. 

Flying Heads, 7y-8i. 

Flying squirrel, how he won his 

wings, 118- .23. 
Folklore, methods of recording, 

11-13- 
Frog, how he lost his teeth, 118-23. 
l-'rost Spirit, drawing, 97. 
I'urniss, Maj. Fred II., Indian 

name, 19. 

Gadojih, the Golden Eagle, 69-72. 
(iadowaas, His Star Belt, 56-57. 
Gagaah, the Crow, 63-66. 
Gahashcindyetha, Fire Beast, 33. 
Gahonga of the rocks and rivers, 

lOI. 

Gajisonda, 60. 

Gandayah of the fruits and grains. 

loi, 105-7. 
Gancgwae, 69. 
Ganiodaiio, 32. 
Ganiuskwa, Stone Giant, 22. 
Ganosgwah, 185. 
Ganundase, 22. 
Ganundowa nKnintain, 112. 
Ganusquah, the Stone Giants, 74-78. 
Gaoh, Spirit of tlie Winds, 36-38, 

45. 47. 48, 63. 
Gaonouh, new moon, 48. 
Gaoyadcheioodio, good sky path, 

56. 
Gaoyagc, Sky Place. 57. 
Gashodecto, 51. 
Gauwidinc, Winter, 96-101. 
Gayaneshaoh. Hearer of the Law, 

19. 



Gayewas, the Fisli, 114-16. 

Geiidenwitha, 63. 

Gidanoneii, tlie Indian Maiden, 

114-16. 
Gogonsa, the False Faces, 74-78. 
Gohay, Spring, 96-101. 
Gohone, Winter, 48. 
Golden Eagle, 69-72. 
Good, spirit of, 31, 32, 34, 36, 47, 63. 
Good and evil, Johnson's account 

of the origin of, 184-85. 
Gotgont, 89-92. 
Great Spirit, 132; an Algonquian 

term, 32. 
Guards of the Little Waters, 22. 
Gunnodojaii, Thunder Boy, 42-45. 
Gustahote, Spirit of the Rock, 66- 

69. 
Gwiyee, 90. 
Gwiyuhgcc, 184. 
Gyantwaka, 29. 

Hadawasano, 57. 
lladeiK'Modaon, 42. 
Ilaligwchdaetgah, Spirit of Evil, 

31, 34. 3.=;, 36, 47, 63. 
Hahgwehdiyu, Spirit of Gnod. ?i. 

34, 36, 47, 63. 
Hahnigoeyoo, Good Mind, .u'- 
Ilahnunah, the Turtle, 31, 33. 
Haicnonis, Music Maker, 22. 
Hainnnis, 53. 

Ilajanoh, the Brave Boy, 1 12-14. 
llanisscono, 32. 
Happy hunting ground, 57. 
Harvest, spirit of, mask represent- 
ing, 74- 
Ilato, Spirit of Winter, 06. 
Ilawcnniyu, He Who Governs. 32. 
Ilejeno, Brave Boy, 15. 
Heno, the Thunderer, 39-42, 45, 47, 

48; drawing, 41. 
Hiawatha, 118. 187. 
Hino, sec Heno. 
Ilodenosaunee or People of the 

Long House, 128-35. 
Hodianokd.i ITedirihe, Our Creator, 

32. 
Hondosa, 124. 
Honohtcinol j,;;ih. the Guardians of 

the Little W.iters, I40-76. 



liNDEX TO IROnUOlS MVTJIS AND LEGENDS 



193 



Hunondiunt, the Company of 

P'aith Keepers, 84, 106. 
Hosto, 57. 
Howetaho, 57. 
Hunter, 60. 

Hunter Vulture, 69-72. 
Hutchinson, Charles H., Indian 

name, 19. 
Hyentwatha, 118, 187. 
Hywcsaus, Seeker of History, 19. 

Indian museum, 27. 

Indian summer, 48-51. 

loskeiia, \\'liile One, 34. 

Iroquois, 128-35; athletes, 130; con- 
fcderac3^ formation, 118, 129; 
folklore, 9-11; number, 130; re- 
ligious conceptions, 131; fur- 
nished 162 soldiers and sailors 
fur the Civil War, 130; trades 
and professions, 131. 

Jadigohsashooh, ']']. 
Jegiyahgohoanoh, the Bird dance, 

69^73- 
Jihenyah, Skj- Witches, 53-54. 
Jijogwch, the Witch Water Gull, 

87-89. 
Jisgoga, the Robin, 107-10. 
Jodikwado, 43. 
Jogaoh, loi. 
Johnson's account of tlie origin of 

good and evil, 184-85. 
Jonaenda, 60. 
Jones, \A'illiam, 19. 
Jonisgyont, the Scpiirrel, 118-23. 
Joondooh, 19. 
Jowiis, 69. 

Kaistowanea, tlie Two-headed Ser- 
pent, 1 12-14. 

Kelly, James, Indian name, 22. 

Keppler, Joseph, election as suc- 
cessor of Mrs Converse, 29. 

Konearawneh, the Flying Heads, 
79-81. 

Lacrosse, origin of game, 145-48. 
La Forte, Daniel, portrait, 25. 
League of the Iroquois, 118, 129. 
Legends and traditions, 8-9. 



Lightning struck trees, 40. 

Listeners, 45. 

Little Water Medicine Society, 
149-83. 

Lodge dance of the Eagles, draw- 
ing, 71. 

Masks, 74-78; representing Ganusk- 
wa, drawing, TJ; representing 
Spirit of the Harvest, drawing, 

74. 
Maxwell, Alexander, biography, 

14-15. 

Ma.xwell, Guy, 15. 

Maxwell, Thomas, 15-16. 

Medicine Lodge, 134, 176-83. 

Medicine masks, 78. 

Medicine rattle presented to Mrs 
Converse, illus., 164. 

Medicine society, 149-83. 

Milky Way, 56-57. 

Mohawk medicine woman, illu>., 
179. 

Mohawks, first settlement, 128; 
sachemships, 129; left the league, 
129; announced exclusive proprie- 
torship of their own lands, 139. 

Moon, 34; new, 48. 

Mountpleasant, Mrs Caroline, 17. 

Myth-dwarf People, 101-7. 

Mythology of Iroquois, how differ- 
ing from that of other races, 10. 

Myths, similarity among peoples 
widely separated, 9. 

Naming the winds, 38-39. 
Negahnegahah, 134. 
Negarnagarah, I'/G. 
Negarnagarah Society, 171. 
Neoga, the Fawn, 38. 
Niganigaah, 156. 
Night, 48. 

Nondowatgaah, 184-85. 
Nosgwais, the Frog, 118-23. 
Notwaishagowane, 32. 
Nukdago, 118. 
Nundawa, 112. 
Nyagwaih, the Bear. 123-24, 
Nyagwaih, the Celestial Bear, 57- 
59- 



194 



NEW VliKK STATE MUSEUM 



Oagwcnt, i\il Mtul!. road. 5(1. 

Uchduah, tin- JJat, 8_>. 

Odjesodah, Uaiicing Stars, 53-54. 

Ogaiiyoda, Rainbow, 47-48. 

Ogashali, 89. 

Ogonesas, 108. 

Ohdanwas of the uiulvnartli shad- 
ows, lOI. 

Ohdowas, 104. 

Uhgiwc, Ucatli dance, 84. 

Oliswcda, Spirit nf the Spruce 1 ree, 
81. 

Oil Sprinj; Reservatiuii, size, 130. 

Ojeanchdoli, the Sky Klk, 60-O3. 

Onatah, Spirit of the Corn, 63-66. 

Oneidas, first settlement, 128; 
sachemships, 129; no reservation, 
130; separated from Onondagas, 

139- 

Ongwiias, 43. 

Uniahrikowa, 43. 

Unondagas, 128; first settlement. 
128; .sachemships, 129; tribal law 
continued among, 129; reserva- 
tion, size, 130; separated from 
Oneidas, 139. 

Osaistowane, 43. 

Oschadagaar; the Dew Eagle, 45- 

47- 
< Jshadagea, 45. 
Osoah, the Tall Pine, 54-56. 
Oswincdon. Spirit of Warmtli. f)(). 
Ottotarho. the Tangled. 1 17-18. 
Ottwaisha, the Soul. 93-96. 
<^)yandone, the Moose, 38. 

Parker, A. C, Neh llonolitiiiKjli- 

gah, the Guardians of tlie Little 

Waters, 149-76. 
Parker, Gen. Ely S., 16; death, 26; 

letter to Mrs Converse, 26. 
Pine, spirit of. 54-56. 
Pleasant Valley Lodge. 22. 
Pleiades, myth, 54. 
Prcsctlentia belt, iiQ. 
Pygmy Society, if)2; in D.irk d.ince 

ceremony, drawing. 103. 

Rabbit, wliitc, 84-87. 
Kainbow, 48. 



Rainbow and the Serpent, 47-48. 
Ransom belt, 133. 
Rattlesnake tribe, origin of, 1 10-12. 
Religious conceptions of Iroquois, 

131- 
Religious feasts, 134. 
Robin, the, 107-10. 
Rock, spirit of, 66-69. 

Sachemships, created at the insti- 
tution of the Hodcnosaunee, 129. 

Sagodaoh, the Hunter Vulture, 69- 
72. 

St Regis Indians, adoption, 129; 
tribal law continued among, 129; 
reservation, size, 130. 

Saistahgowa, 47-48. 

Saistahonoh, Snake people, in. 

Salamanca Seuecas, abandoned the 
tribal law, 129. 

Sandy, Cliicf Joiin, portrait, 21. 

Secret Medicine Societj', 22, 149. 

Secret societies, 134. 

Segoicwatha, 32. 

Seneca flute, drawing, 83. 

Seneca Medicine Lodge, 176-83. 

Senecas, union with Cayugas. 128; 
an independent nation, 128; 
sachemships, 129; clans, 130; sep- 
arated from Cayugas, 139. 

Senecas, Allegany, reservation. 130. 

Senecas, Cattaraugus, reservation, 
130. 

Senecas, Cattaraugus and Sal- 
manca, abandoned tribal law. 129. 

Senecas. Toiiawanda, reservation. 
130; tribal law continued among, 
129. 

Scoh, Night. 48. 

Serpent, horned, 42-45; drawing. 

44- 
Serpent, two-he.ided. 112-14. 
Serpent and the Rainbow, 47-48. 
Sgahahsowah, the Witch Hawk, 

89-92. 
Shagndioweiij.'owa. Wliirluind, ,^6. 
Shogwayahdihsatnh. He \\'ho 

Created Us. 32. 
Skahaiwe, In<Iian Suninur. 48-51. 
Skv Elk. 60. 



IXDKX TO JROOUOIS MYTHS AND LECKNDS 



195 



Sky Witches, 53-54- 

Sky Woman, 31, 33-34- 

Snake people, iii. 

Society of Mystic Animals, 22. 

Society of the Men Who Move 
Spirits, 171-76. 

Soikadakwa DondiniDimir), moon 
thanksgiving, 34. 

Sondowekowa, 51. 

Sosondowa, great darkness, 35. 

Sosondowah, the Hunter, 60. 

Soul, the, 93-96. 

Spring, 96-101. 

Spruce tree, spirit of, 81. 

Squash, spirit of, 185-86. 

Squirrel, flying, 118-23. 

Star Belt of Gadowaas, 56-57. 

Star Woman, 60. 

Stone Giants, 74-78, 185. 

Stone Throwers, loi. 

Story-telling customs of the Iro- 
quois, lo-ii. 

Strawberry plant, 105-6. 

Sun, 34, 45. 

Sun, Moon and Stars, 34-35. 

Tahahiawagon, Upholder of the 

Heavens, 74. 
Tahamont, an Algonquin chief, 

drawing, 126. 
Tall Pine, 54-56. 
Tasewayaee, Honest Trader, 15. 
Tawehskahsoohnyk, Made of Flint, 

34- 

Tawiscara, Dark One, 34. 

Tehdooh, the Woodchuck, t 18-23. 

Thaniodooh, 32. 

Thonasowah, 19. 

Thunder, spirit of, 39-42, 45, 47, 48. 

Thunder Bird, 47. 

Thunder Boy, 42-45. 

Thunder medicine, 40. 

Toandoah, Inventor, 19. 

Tododaho, 117. 139. 

Tonawanda Senecas. tribal law 
continued among, 129; reserva- 
tion, size, 130. 



Tondayent, 84-87. 

Tonodooo, the Supreme Ruler, 
32, 112-14. 

Totadaho bell, drawing, 119. 

Towiissas, 64. 

Trades and professions of Iro- 
quois, 131. 

Traditions differ frtmi legends, 9. 

Tsehsehhowlilioolmyk, Man Made 
of Fire, 34. 

Tugawane, 57. 

Turtle, 31, 33. 

Turtle shell rattle, drawing, 80. 

Tuscaroras, reservation, size, 130; 
included in census enumeration, 
T3I- 

Twelvc warriors, 84-87. 

Underearth myths, 104-5. 

Wampum, legendary origin of, 187- 

90. 
Wampum belts, 13S-45; passed into 

keeping of the State Museum, 27, 

140; commemorating Ottotarho, 

118; ransom belt, 133. 
Wannutha, 124^:27. 
Whirlwind, 36. 
Winds, naming, 38-39. 
Winds, spirit of, 36-38, 45. 47. 48, 

63- 

Wing or Dust Fan, illlus., 141. 

Winter, 48, 96-101. 

Witch Bear Woman, 89-92. 

Witcli Hawk, 89-92. 

Witch Water Gull, 87-89- 

Woman's rights among the Iro- 
quois, 133, 135-38. 

Woodchuck, how he lost his appe- 
tite, 118-23. 

Yaiewanoh, She Who Watches 

Over Us, 14, 22, 24. 
Yaogah, the Bear, 38. 
Yeihdos, 22. 
Yotdondakgoh, 104. 



Neiv y'ork State Education Department 

New York State Museum 

John M. Clarke, Director 

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9^ ^ " 

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104 " 
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107 

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6J 


5''. 


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76 57, V. I, pt a 

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113 


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1 16 


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58. 


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95. 96 


58. 


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118 


60. V. I 


97 


58. 


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98. 99 


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V 




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100 


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a 


49. V. 3 


101 


59. 


V. 




3. 4 


53. V. a 


ioa 


59. 


V. 




5.0 


57. V, 3 


t03-5 


59. 


V. 




7 


57. V. 4 


106 


59. 


V. 




8,pt I 


59. V, 3 


107 


60. 


V. 




8, pt a 


59. V. 4 


108 


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MUSEUM PUBLICATIONS 

The figures at the beginning of each entry in the following list, indicate its number as a 
Museum bulletin. 

Geology. 14 Kemp, J. F. Geology of Moriah and Westport Townships, 

Essex Co. N. Y., with notes on the iron mines. 38p. il. 7pl. 2 maps 

Sept. 1895. Free. 
19 Merrill, F. J. H. Guide to the Study of the Geological Collections of 

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21 Kemp, J. P. Geology of the Lake Placid Region. 24p. ipl. map. Sept. 

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48 Woodworth, J. B. Pleistocene Geology of Nassau County and Boroupji 

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56 Merrill, F. J. H. Description of the State Geologic Map of 1901. 42p. 

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83 Woodworth, J. B. Pleistocene Geology of the Mooers Quadrangle. 62p. 
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84 Ancient Water Levels of the Champlain and Hudson Valleys 2o6p. 

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96 Ogilvie, L H. Geology of the Paradox Lake Quadrangle. 54p.il. lypl 

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106 Fairchild, H L. Glacial Waters in the Erie Basin. 88p. i4pl. 9 maps. 
Feb. 1907. Out of print. 

107 Woodworth J. B.; Hartnagel. C. A.; Whitlock, H. P.; Hudson, G. H.; 
Clarke, J. M.: White, David: Berkey, C. P. Geological Papers. 388p. 
54pl. map. May 1907. 90c, cloth. 

Contents: Woodworth, J. B. Postglacial Faults of Eastern New York. 
Hartnagel, C. A. Stratigraphic Relations of the Oneida Conglomerate. 

Upper Siluric and Lower Devonic Formations of the Skunnemunk Mountain Region. 

Whitlock, H. P. Minerals from Lyon Mountain, Clinton Co. 

Hudson, G. H. On Some Pelmatozoa from the Chazy Limestone of New York. 

Clarke, J. M. Some New Devonic Fossils. 

An Interesting Style of Sand-filled Vein. 

Eurypterus Shales of the Shawangunk Mountains in Eastern New York. 

White, David. .\ Remarkable Fossil Tree Trunk from the Middle Devonic of New York. 
Berkey, C. P. Structural and Stratigraphic Features of the Basal Gneisses of the 
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Ill Fairchild, H. L. Drum! ins of New York. 6op. 2 Spl. 19 maps July 

1907. Out of print. 
115 Cushing, H. P, Geology of the Long Lake Quadrangle. 88p. 2opl. 

map. Sept. 1907. 25c. 
Fairchild, H. L. Later Glacial Waters in Central New York. In press. 
Miller, W. J. Geology of the Remsen Quadrangle. In press. 
Berkey, C. P. Geology of the Highlands of the Hudson. In preparation. 
Cushing, H. P. Geology of the Theresa Quadrangle. In preparation. 
Economic geology, 3 Smock, J. C. Building Stone in the State of New 

York. i54p. Mar. 1888. Out of print. 
7 First Report on the Iron Mines and Iron Ore Districts in the State 

of New York. 78p. map. June iSSq. Out of print. 
10 Building Stone in New York. 2iop. map, tab. Sept. 1890. 4cc. 

11 Merrill, F. J. H. Salt and Gypsum Industries of New York. 94p. i2pl. 

2 rnaps, 11 tab. Apr. 1893. [50c] 

12 Ries, Heinrich. Clay Industries of New York. r74p. ipl. il. map. Mar. 
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15 Merrill. F. J. H. Mineral Resources of New York. 2 4op. 2 maps. 

Sept. 1895. [50c] 
17 Road Materials and Road Building in New York. 52p. T4pl 2 maps. 

Oct. 1897. 15c. 
30 Orton, Edward. Petroleum and Natural Gas in New York. 136P il. 

3 maps. Nov. 1899. 15c. 

35 Ries, Heinrich. Clays of New York; their Properties and Uses. 4 56p 
i4opl. map. June 1900. $1, cloth. 



NEW YORK STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT 

44 Lime and Cement Industries of New York; Eckel, E. C. Chapters 

on the Cement Industry. 332p. loipl. 2 maps. Dec. igoi. 85c, cloth. 

61 Dickinson, H. T. Quarries of Hluestone and other Sandstones in New 

York. ii4p. iSpl. 2 maps. Mar. igo^. 35c. 
85 RattL-r, G. W. Hydrology of New York State. 902p. il. 44pl. 5 maps. 

May 1905. $1.50, cloth. 
93 .Vewland. D. H. Mining and Quarry Industry of New York. 7Sp. 

July 1905. Out of print. 
100 McCourt, W. E. Fire Tests of Some Xew York Building Stones. 4 op. 

26pl. Feb. 1006. 15c 
102 S'ewland, D. H. Mining and Quarry Industry of New York. 2d 

Report. 162P. June iqo6. 25c. 

112 Mining and Quarry Industry 1906. 82p. July 1907. 15c 

iiQ .\e\vland, D. II. t'v: Kemp, J. F. Geology of the Adirondack Magnetic 

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1S4P. i4pl. 8 maps. Apr. 190S. 35c. 

120 Mining and Quarry Industry 1907. Sap. July 190S. 15c. 

123, & Hartnagel, C. A. Iron Ores of the Clinton Formation in New 

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Clarke. I. .M. New Agelacrinites 
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